


Senses

by Alexiessan



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Maribat - Fandom, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Akumas are more violent than in canon, Angst, Blood, Complete, Death, Even if they make mistakes, F/M, Fluff, Happy Ending, Hawkmoth is not that important here, Implied Sexual Content, Inspired By Sense8, Just thought I should reassure my readers, Lila Rossi is not a good person, Marinette's friends are good friends, No Lila Rossi Redemption, Soulmate AU, Soulmates, Violence, but not described, no salt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:59:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 51,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27042367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alexiessan/pseuds/Alexiessan
Summary: Marinette never thought that she would be among the 0.1% of the population to have a soulmate, and yet, here she was.She wasn't ready for her life to change drastically because of it.
Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Dick Grayson, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Damian Wayne
Comments: 1782
Kudos: 2387





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday to me! As a gift from me to you, here is the first chapter of my new story!  
> It's more mature than the other one, so be sure to read the tags before you start reading.
> 
> This work was inspired by Sense8. The soulbond works the same way as in the TV Show. I've tried to explain it as best as I could in chapter 2, but I don't know if I succeeded. If you've watched it, you'll have no issue. If you haven't, it's a good TV show but it's not for everyone. If you're under 18, I don't recommend you watch it as there are violence and graphic sexual content in it.
> 
> In this story though, there is no graphic sexual content. It's implied, just like in Never Alone. But there are graphic depiction of violence and blood at some point, I'll warn you in the notes at the beginning of the chapter of course.
> 
> TW: Marinette has a bit of a panic attack in here, but it's really short!

The first time Damian heard about soulmates was when he was fourteen-year-old. His mother never mentioned it when he was a child and neither did his father nor any of his brothers when he came to live in Gotham when he was ten.

The reason he never heard of it was simple: only 0.1% of the population had a soulmate. Which meant that the chance of him having one were close to none.

While soulmates were common knowledge, it wasn’t particularly talked about because of the rarity of it. People weren’t jealous of the very few who got one, but there was a curiosity about this topic.

So, when Damian first saw a girl in the dining room while he and his family were having dinner, he was more than surprised. No one should be able to enter the Manor unnoticed.

“Who are you and how did you get in here?!” he asked, or rather, demanded in a cold tone.

The girl jumped as if she hadn’t noticed him at all. She turned around, her eyes landing on him and she squealed, letting the sketchbook and pen that were in her hands fall on the floor.

“What- Who are you?! And how did _you_ get in here?”

“I’m the one asking the questions.”

His family looked at him before looking around. Dick left his seat to approach him.

“Who are you talking to?” he asked softly, as if afraid to startle him.

It made Damian frown. He didn’t need his oldest brother to treat him like he was going to break down if he were to talk louder than that.

“I’m talking to this girl who somehow broke into our house.”

The girl scoffed. “Excuse me, but it’s the other way around. _You’re_ in my house.”

The youngest Wayne stood up, hitting his fist on the table.

“Stop with this nonsense. How could I be at your house when you’re clearly in mine?”

There was a soft gasp coming from behind him and Alfred came behind him, resting a hand on his shoulder to try and calm him down.

“I think I know what is going on, Master Damian. And there is no need to worry.”

“No need to worry,” the pre-teen exclaimed, turning around to face the man. “A girl just broke into our home and you’re saying there is nothing to worry about?”

“Indeed. Because there is no one here.”

He went to argue, to tell them that there was obviously a girl around his age right in front of them, that he wasn’t going crazy. But when he turned around, the girl was no longer here.

“What- where did she go?”

“Master Damian, you were the only one seeing her.”

Damian scowled as he faced Alfred again. “How is that possible?” he looked at his brothers and his father who were looking at him in worry. “I’m not going insane!” he defended.

“No one said you were,” answered Dick, but there was an edge in his voice that said otherwise.

“You didn’t but you still think there’s something wrong with me.”

“Well, you did see someone no one else saw,” started Jason.

Tim remained silent, as did his father, probably trying to understand what was going on.

“But Master Damian is not going insane,” Alfred stated, still as calm as ever. “He just met his soulmate.”

There were several gasps around the table, and the look of worry disappeared from the members of his family’s faces, to be replaced by a look of understanding.

“What are you talking about exactly,” he asked, feeling calmer now that there was an explanation about what just happened, even if he didn’t fully understand it yet.

His father cleared his throat. “I’m not surprised you didn’t hear about soulmates until now. Talia probably never saw the use to, and I didn’t think about bringing it up.”

The middle-aged man took a bite of his meal, swallowing before continuing.

“It’s not common, but some people do have a soulmate out there. I believe it’s only 0.1% of the population, if not less.”

He fell silent, disregarding his meal as he contemplated how to explain this particular topic to his son. Never did he think that he would meet someone with a soulmate. Because, yes, it was _that_ rare. Never would he have thought that his own son would be one of the people having a soulmate.

But it was a good thing, Bruce thought. His son, who had so many difficulties trusting others and befriending people, was blessed with someone who he could trust with his life.

He knew it wouldn’t be that easy. That Damian would scoff at the idea. That he would probably be rude to the girl that was assigned as his soulmate when he will see her again. That it would probably take years for him to give his soulmate his trust.

But she would be the one he would trust the most, one day.

“When you have a soulmate, someone that was decided to be your perfect partner by the fates, they appear to you from time to time. Either you’ll see them where you are, or you’ll appear at their location. They’re not _really_ there, but you’ll sense them all the same. You can touch them, interact with them, but you can’t have any interaction with their environment.”

He sighed, feeling that his explanation was not helping at all.

“There are, sometimes, body switches. You don’t always control them, especially in the beginning, but you can learn to. The… uh… ‘apparitions’, let’s call them that, will be random too until you learn how to control it.”

Bruce massaged his temples, trying to remember what he knew of soulmates.

“Oh,” he began again, “if your soulmate speaks another language, it will be automatically translated to the one you speak.”

He finally looked at his son in the eyes, seeing him frown. “Basically, your soulmate is the other half of your soul. Your one true partner, the one who will never betray you. Congratulations, Damian.”

His other sons smiled at their younger brother, taking their turn to congratulate him, but the pre-teen only frowned.

“What’s wrong?” asked Bruce, even though he knew exactly what his son was thinking.

Damian scoffed. “I don’t believe in that. Who can decide who to trust but me?”

Bruce sighed, crossing his arms. “I’m not saying that you have to trust that girl immediately. You are soulmates, yes, but it works like every other relationship. With work and efforts to get to know each other. I know your trust has to be earned. Well, so be it. Just know that, as your soulmate, whether you like it or not, that girl is here to stay.” Bruce smiled. “She was chosen for you.”

Damian scowled, and Bruce let out a laugh. “We’ll see where it goes. Don’t think too much about it.”

Bruce was about to go back to eating when Damian finally spoke up.

“If she appears at random times without any of us having control of it, my identity will be compromised.”

Bruce froze, as did his other sons.

He had thought of that, of course. There was no hiding something that big to a soulmate. And while he didn’t like the idea to trust someone he didn’t know with his son’s identity — and his own and his other sons’ too — he had to believe that the person assigned as his son’s soulmate could be trusted.

After all, not a lot of people could be his son’s soulmate.

“It will. And we’ll have to bear with that. Since it’s your soulmate, it means that she is someone you _can_ trust, even if you take a long time to trust her because of your issues.”

He sighed.

“I don’t like that our identities will be compromised, but we can’t do anything about it.”

“I can always threaten her.”

Jason laughed. “That’s a very bad way to start any sort of relationship, brat.”

They all returned to their dinner silently, all worried about their identity.

Especially since there was nothing there would be able to do about it.

* * *

Marinette was having trouble breathing. Her vision was turning black the more it lasted.

She was having a panic attack, she realized, like an afterthought.

She tried touching things around her. She found the sketchbook and the pen that had fallen on the floor earlier. She felt a piece of paper too — one of Adrien’s pictures she has been getting rid of, she realized — and the wood of the floor.

But it was Tikki’s voice that made her calm down.

“Marinette, you’re okay. I’m here and you’re in your room. Nothing can hurt you here. Listen to my voice, alright? Breathe in… Hold it… Breathe out.”

She listened carefully to the kwami’s instructions and after awfully long minutes, she managed to calm down enough to breathe.

“What happened,” the little god finally asked, her voice soothing to Marinette.

The dark-haired girl took a deep breath before looking around, making sure that the boy from earlier was truly gone.

He was there, just like that, coming out of nowhere, and gone the next moment.

Marinette wasn’t stupid. She knew what it meant. She had heard about soulmates from Tikki.

She just didn’t think that she would be one of those people with one. It felt so surreal.

“There was a boy here just five minutes ago.”

Tikki frowned.

“But there was no one…” she said before her eyes widened. “Oh! You’ve got your first contact with your soulmate! Marinette!” she exclaimed, flying in circles as she expressed her joy. “That’s amazing! You have a soulmate.”

Marinette said nothing, frowning as she looked around in her room.

The photos of Adrien that have been hanging on her walls were now on the ground sorted in a pile, waiting to be thrown out.

Marinette fell in love with Adrien almost a year ago, when he gave her his umbrella.

She had changed so much after that, obsessing over him like she has never obsessed over anything before.

She had had photos of him on her walls. His schedule too.

And yet, she hadn’t seen anything wrong with it at the time.

It was only when she had this weird double date with Luka, Adrien, and Kagami, after dragging Luka in this, did she realize.

Her love — no, her obsession — for Adrien wasn’t healthy. She was becoming a stalker and trying to sabotage other people for her own gain.

She was so focused on Adrien that everything else came in second place.

She didn’t like who she was becoming. Marinette didn’t like herself anymore.

And wasn’t it important to love oneself? Or to at least, to have some self-respect?

But Marinette didn’t like nor did she respect herself when she was in love with Adrien.

So she had to move on for her own sake if not for other’s.

She had taken down his schedule first. Then, it was the pictures, little by little.

There was so much of them that it took her a few days to take them down completely. School, homework, and her Ladybug’s duties left her with little time for anything else.

It was one in the morning right now, on the weekend that she finally took down the last of the pictures. She wasn’t tired yet so she had decided to sketch a little.

And then, the boy appeared.

Marinette was only now trying to move on from Adrien. From a frankly unhealthy crush — which made her wonder why her friends were encouraging it in the first place — and it was difficult, but she had to do it, to find herself again.

And somehow, the fates decided that it was a good time for her to introduce her to her soulmate.

No. Marinette couldn’t do this.

What if she became obsessed once again? What if she was actually insane and would obsess over anyone she would feel attracted to?

She wasn’t ready for a soulmate.

Deciding that it wouldn’t do any good to keep all that to herself, she told Tikki everything she was thinking.

The Kwami looked at her with this smile that reminded her so much of her mother.

“Oh, Marinette,” she sighed softly. “You’re not insane. Don’t be afraid of love because your first experience wasn’t a good one.”

“It was unhealthy, Tikki,” the blue-eyed girl interrupted.

“It was. But it’s also my fault. I didn’t tell you it was, and you were only thirteen when you fell in love with Adrien. You didn’t recognize an unhealthy behavior yet. I should have told you. But you realized that you didn’t like who you were becoming and decided to change. It’s a good thing. You’re admitting your errors and you’re taking your responsibilities to try and correct them.”

She flew to Marinette’s cheek and give her a little hug.

“And I’m proud of you for that,” the little kwami said. “It was the first time you fell in love. You got a bit excited. To the point of obsession, and obsession is never a good thing. Never. But you’re moving on from that. Now that you know it’s wrong, you won’t do it anymore, I know it.”

The fashion designer nodded, reassured by her friend’s words.

“I…” she hesitated but continued when Tikki nodded at her. “I still don’t want a soulmate… I mean… In theory, it’s amazing. My other half… The one I will trust more than anyone else in the world… But I don’t want to be forced to love them.”

Tikki laughed. “You won’t. The bond is just introducing you and, yeah, it will force you to spend time together with the apparitions and the switches, but it’s just saying: ‘Look! Here is the perfect person for you. They’re right here! Now, do what you want with this knowledge.’ You will love them because you want to, not because the bond is forcing you.”

The designer looked away, still skeptical.

Tikki smiled. “I understand your skepticism. But you’ll see for yourself.” she kissed her holder’s cheek. “Just keep an open mind, okay?”

“Alright.” Marinette sighed, getting up and gathering Adrien’s pictures. “Okay. Time to move on,” she said determinedly.

And she threw the last pictures in the trash.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very nervous about this chapter because I tried to explain the bond a bit more, and I'm scared that I'm gonna lose you guys. In sense8, with images it's easy to understand, but in writing? It's so much harder. So there's a lot of explanation in this chapter, but it will be the only one, as I won't explain like that in the future chapters, so they should be lighter haha
> 
> Thank you for all your comments, I didn't expect such a warm welcome back from you guys! Thank you!
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy this chapter!

It was three weeks later that the next apparition happened.

Damian was in class, starting his afternoon classes on the last school day of the week when suddenly he wasn’t in class anymore. He was in a living room with only the light of a TV illuminating the room.

It was night outside, and a digital clock at his left told him that it was eight in the evening.

He was aware that he was still in his class. He could even hear the teacher if he concentrated hard enough. It was like he was at two places at the same time, like his soul was divided.

He could move all he wanted here — somewhere in Europe, he believed — but he was not moving back in Gotham.

“Where am I,” he asked when he spotted his soulmate with two other boys, playing video games.

One boy wore glasses and a cap while the other wore a red sweater and had a blond strand of hair among his brown hair.

As he saw the girl — he still didn’t know her name — slightly jumped at the sound of his voice, he was made aware that everyone heard him in his class back in Gotham. He heard his teacher telling him to pay better attention but his attention was on the girl in front of him.

He frowned. What a weird experience, to be literally at two places at the same time. He didn’t know if he would ever get used to it.

It was like he was divided in two. One part of him was in Europe with his soulmate, talking and moving around — he was even able to touch things, he discovered as he put a hand on the couch, feeling the texture of it. He tried to move the remote control on the table, but he could only touch it, not move it. His father has been half wrong about not being able to interact with his soulmate’s environment. Then again, Bruce did say that he didn’t know much about the soulmate bond — while the other part of him was still in Gotham, not moving like the other part of him, but still speaking.

He didn’t understand how the bond worked yet, but it was uncanny.

At least, his… original body — let’s call it that — wasn’t moving. It still meant that he was talking to himself back there, and at one point or another, his idiots of classmates would realize what is going on, but they wouldn’t think that he was losing his head, moving around in the middle of the class.

The girl didn’t answer him, which he understood since she had company. Still, he moved to the window next to the TV and saw Haussmann buildings outside.

“I’m in Paris, then,” he whispered so that his classmates back in Gotham wouldn’t hear him.

Really, what a weird experience.

He turned around to look at the girl, observing her. She had black hair and blue eyes that reminded him of Dick’s eyes. She was half Asian and half French and she had kindness in her eyes.

Her eyes were on the TV, trying to concentrate on the racing game the three of them were playing, but she was obviously nervous about him if the glances she gave him were any indication.

“You are all going to hurt your eyes playing in the dark like this,” he eventually said, uncomfortable with the situation.

Not that he would admit that.

He looked around, knowing she wouldn’t answer. The digital clock told him that he’s been there for ten minutes already.

How long would these apparitions last?

He didn’t know what would happen if his class were to end and he was still there. Logically, he would be aware of it and would know to move but the thing was so weird, to begin with, and he didn’t know enough to know for sure. He could still faintly hear his teacher though.

Suddenly, the boy in the red sweater stood up, screaming in joy.

“Yes! I beat you DC! I beat the queen!”

Marinette only sighed, admitting defeat.

The boy with the glasses frowned, poking the girl in her side.

“Are you okay? You’ve been acting weird.”

She laughed nervously, looking directly into Damian’s eyes.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just distracted, sorry.”

Damian raised an eyebrow at her, keeping his gaze on her.

The next second, he was back in class, and it was like he never left.

Looking down, Damian saw that he had taken note of everything the teacher said. Even though it was very faint, he did hear the professor when he appeared in Paris, so his body must have taken note.

Curiouser and curiouser.

Sighing, the young Wayne put a little more concentration in his notes, knowing that he would learn more about the bond the more it would activate.

It didn’t make it any less disturbing though.

* * *

The next apparition happened only a week after Damian appeared in Paris. He was petting Titus in the garden when a voice suddenly spoke next to him.

“What’s the dog’s name?”

Damian wasn’t startled. He just looked at her as she sat next to him, trying to get his dog’s attention before she gave up when she understood that he couldn’t see her.

“Titus,” he answered before he turned his attention back to his dog, whose head was tilted, looking at his master, probably not understanding who he was talking to.

Damian just moved closer to Titus, hugging him to his chest as the really big dog relaxed against him.

The girl next to him chuckled, watching them with a smile.

“I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng, by the way,” she introduced herself, offering her hand for him to shake.

The green-eyed boy only nodded at her, which made her retract her hand.

“Damian,” he said, not offering his last name.

Marinette raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue, but didn’t ask for more when he didn’t, respecting his need for privacy.

“So,” she began after clearing her throat, feeling awkward. Damian rolled his eyes at her behavior, she was too easy to read which made it easy to take advantage of her. “Where are we?”

“In the United States,” he answered curtly, not looking away from her.

She pursed her lips as she turned to face him fully. “Care to elaborate a little?”

The youngest Wayne sighed, surrendering that bit of information. “You’re in Gotham.”

She seemed to think about it for a moment before her eyes illuminated with understanding. “The city with Batman, right?” he nodded and she continued. “I heard about him from my friend. She’s a fan of superheroes and insists that Batman is one even though everyone says it’s vigilantism. She admires him so much, you can’t stop her when she starts talking about him.”

She fell silent, giving him a sheepish smile.

“Sorry,” she said, looking away from him. “This is all really awkward.”

He didn’t say anything until she asked. “Would you tell me a little about you?”

“I don’t trust you,” he said, not mincing his words.

“Yeah, I understand that,” she said as she got more and more nervous, toying with the hem of her shirt. “But trust comes as you get to know someone, you know? I’m not asking for personal information, and we’ll see each other whether we want it or not, so we may as well try, don’t you think?”

He thought about it and knew she was right, but his trust was hard to gain, and he was reluctant to share information about him with her yet.

“I’ll think about it,” he eventually said.

“Better than nothing, I guess,” she laughed.

And she was gone.

* * *

Marinette has now known she had a soulmate for a whole month but she still hadn’t told anyone about it.

She needed the time to accept it and to move on from Adrien. It was slow progress, but she now could talk to him without being a blushing stuttering mess.

Her heart still skipped a beat when he smiled at her, and her heartbeat would still speed up when he would seek her out to talk to her, but it wasn’t as intense as it used to be.

Slowly but surely, she was moving on.

She finally knew her soulmate’s name, but she didn’t get much more. Damian was a very private person and apparently had issues to give his trust.

That was okay, she knew that she would have to put a lot of work into it, but she would eventually gain his trust, just like he was going to eventually gain hers.

Or at least, she hoped.

When she told her parents that she had a soulmate, they were delighted. Their little girl had a soulmate! Her father even cried, happy that she wouldn’t have to date people that could break her heart.

And wasn’t that another issue? Dating. That was something that was completely out of the window now that she had a soulmate, wasn’t it? She didn’t want to imagine the awkwardness if her soulmate were to appear when she was on a date or when she was kissing her boyfriend.

Nope, nope, nope. She didn’t want that, she would never survive the embarrassment.

Which meant, whatever feelings she had had for Luka, she couldn’t tell him yes after she had fully moved on from Adrien. Because even though her heart belonged to Adrien, she wasn’t indifferent to Luka, and after her heart would be free, she wanted to give the musician a chance.

But now, she couldn’t.

Marinette didn’t say anything else, letting her parents be happy for her, and her father was relieved about her being safe from heartbreak.

She didn’t have the heart to tell him that her heart has already been broken.

After that, she told her classmates that she considered friends. Which was pretty much the whole class minus Chloé and Sabrina and Lila, who was God knows where — not traveling, that’s for sure.

“That’s so romantic,” exclaimed Rose, a dreamy look on her face. “I’ve always wished that I would get a soulmate,” she sighed. “You’re so lucky Marinette, I’m so happy for you!” She exclaimed as she hugged Marinette.

“Thanks, Rose,” Marinette weakly answered as she hugged the petite blonde back. She was a little uncomfortable sharing this as she didn’t know anything about her soulmate.

“How does it work exactly,” Max asked, putting his glasses back on his nose after he had cleaned them. “There are a lot of studies, but there are still a lot of unknowns.”

“I’m confused too, to be honest,” the fashion designer admitted, biting her bottom lip. “It’s like you’re divided into two persons, I guess. One of me is with my soulmate, fully focused there, while the other me is still there, but not as focused. And I can do different things too, one ‘me’,” she made quotation marks with her fingers, “doesn’t imitate the other.”

Her classmates just looked at her like she was the weirdest thing they have ever seen.

Marinette groaned. “I know, it’s weird. I don’t understand all of it myself.”

Alya just waved her off. “That’s fine, even if you never figure it out, that’s just how things are. I don’t think soulmates are a thing to be understood completely anyway.”

Adrien smiled at her and Marinette cursed herself for her heartbeat speeding up. Slowly but surely, she reminded herself. “So, how is your soulmate?”

Marinette pursed her lips at that. “I’m not sure. We only saw each other three times. Our first meeting was just us screaming at each other for breaking and entering,” her friends laughed at that, “then, he appeared when I was at Kim’s for video game night.”

“That’s why I beat you!” he whined. “I haven’t actually bested you, damn it.”

“So we didn’t talk then,” she continued like she didn’t hear him. “And then I was in a garden and he was with his dog. I only learned his name then. He seems very private and withdrawn, but I don’t know him enough to really tell,” she shrugged.

“That’s okay. You’ll have all the time in the world to get to know him, girl!”

Marinette smiled to hide how nervous she was getting. She didn’t know how to ask them to keep this information for themselves.

Sensing her discomfort, Nino put a hand on her shoulder.

“We won’t say anything to anyone,” he said loud enough for everyone to hear him. “It’s your choice to tell whoever you want to, not ours. So we promise not to tell anyone unless you give us your permission.”

Everyone behind him agreed.

“Of course,” Alya said, taking Marinette’s hand in hers and squeezing a little. “You can trust us.”

“Thank you,” the designer breathed, happy to have good friends like them.

* * *

Damian wasn’t sure what happened for the first seconds. He was having dinner with his family, Grayson and Todd were arguing over God know what, he wasn’t paying attention. He was just eating when he felt like he was pushed out of his body. He was still in the same place, except he wasn’t in front of his plate, but next to it. When he looked to his left, he could see Marinette sitting in his place.

“What the hell is happening?” he asked harshly. It wasn’t like the other times they had ‘visited’ each other.

Given the information he had about their soulbond, Damian was quick to come to a conclusion. It was one of these switches he had heard about. He had thought that it would be like they would exchange their bodies. She in his, and he in hers. But it wasn’t like that. It was like she took over his body and he could just watch. Like she was driving and he was in the passenger seat.

What was weird though, was that he could see her like she was just visiting instead of seeing his own body being controlled by someone else.

“Oh my god,” she said as she watched her — his — hands, clearly not recognizing them as her own. “That’s not how I pictured the switches,” she breathed as she looked at him. “And you’re still here? That’s just so… weird.”

Damian scowled. “It is. Give me my body back, now.”

“I don’t know how!”, she hissed. “I didn’t ask for it to happen either.”

“Is everything alright?” his father’s voice interrupted their argument. Marinette’s attention was now on Bruce, her eyes widening as she didn’t know what to say.

“Uh…”

Bruce frowned as he noticed the blue eyes instead of his son’s green ones. “You’re not Damian. You’re his soulmate, right?”

Marinette nodded. “Sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen, I don’t know how it works.”

“Is that a switch happening?” asked Dick, excited. “Does that mean that Damian is in your body right now?”

Marinette shook her head, glancing at Damian next to her. “No, he’s still here. It’s like I forced him out of his body and he can only watch. He’s annoyed though.”

Tim looked at her. “If you’re in Damian’s body and he’s still here, then what happened to your body? Is it unconscious?”

Marinette seemed to concentrate a little. “No, it’s… It’s still conscious. It’s like when we appear to each other. I can still move on my own, like I’m in two places at the same time, except that I took over Damian’s body. I’m just having a conversation with myself back home though,” she laughed nervously.

“That’s neat,” said Jason. “What’s your name, by the way? Damian hasn’t shared anything about you.”

“Oh, I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng. It’s nice to meet you all!” she beamed at them.

His siblings just looked at Marinette — at him, really — like they had never seen him before.

“Wow,” breathed Grayson. “I can’t believe Damian has such a nice smile and hid it from us. He only smirks, I swear.”

It was getting too much for Damian, he needed his body back, now.

And just as he was thinking it, Marinette was gone from his body, gone from their dining room and he was back in his body.

“Tch, stop looking at me like that, imbeciles.”

“And he’s back.” laughed Jason.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your comments! I'm so happy that you liked the last chapter.
> 
> This one is more than 3k words and that's the longest chapter I've written yet. Don't get too used to it though, it will probably go back to the average 2k.
> 
> I honestly don't have a way to know, my chapters kinda write themselves.
> 
> TW: A bit of blood in this chapter, but just a smidge.
> 
> Also, I just want to say that there is no salt or character bashing in this story!

Damian was sitting in front of the computer in the Batcave, his hand on the mouse, the pointer hovering on a file with his soulmate’s name. He was hesitating and it annoyed him. He never hesitated, so why now?

After his family met Marinette when she had briefly taken over his body at dinner three days ago, Tim has made his research on the girl, and it was very easy to find everything he needed. His father and his brothers all knew everything there was to know about Marinette Dupain-Cheng, but Damian had yet to open the file.

It wasn’t the first time that they did research on someone like that. It was even a common occurrence, they couldn’t afford to trust people easily, and a background check was the bare minimum they did when a Wayne met someone they would have to interact with more than once. So, of course, they would do the same for Marinette, since she would be a permanent addition to Damian’s life, and that she would one day come to know their secret.

And yet, as Damian looked at the screen, he was hesitating. For three days now, he had sit at the computer, looked at the unopened file for long minutes before leaving the room, unable to open it. There was something in him that screamed at him to not open the file. That he should get to know the girl without checking every aspect of her life.

It also screamed at him that Marinette was respectful of his boundaries, letting him decide if he wanted to share things about him with her and never asking for his last name when he didn’t give her one.

His gut feeling told him that he shouldn’t open this file. Plus, if something were wrong with the girl, if she was dangerous for them or anything, his family would have found it and would have told him right away, not caring about his opinion on the matter.

Damian left the room and the file stayed unopened on the computer screen.

When he left the room, however, he didn’t find himself in the corridor as he should have, but in a very pink room. Marinette was sitting at her desk, scribbling something in a notebook.

Even if he couldn’t see what she was doing, deep inside, he knew exactly what she was doing.

“So, you’re into fashion,” he asked, his voice breaking the silence in her room.

He watched as she stiffened, not jumping at his voice this time. She turned around to face him, frowning.

“How do you know that?”

He shrugged, not really sure how he knew himself. “The bond, probably. I know it because you do?”

Her blue eyes met his green ones and she seemed to analyze him for long minutes before she tilted her head and said, “You like drawing, don’t you?”

He stiffened before forcing himself to relax. So it was really the bond that made them know stuff like that. He nodded and she kept watching him. She turned around abruptly, picking her pen up, and started drawing again, not asking him questions.

On one hand, it was a good thing. He didn’t want her asking questions. On another hand, he didn’t like how good she was at reading him.

“A friend’s birthday is coming up so I’m going to make her a dress. She likes pink and cute things so I’m trying to make it super cute.”

He nodded, not really listening. He didn’t care about her friends. He looked around, wincing at all the pink before his eyes stopped on her bed. There were a lot of animal plushies on it. A big cat, a dog, a hamster…

“You like animals,” he asked, his eyes not leaving the plushies. That’s something they could have in common.

He glanced her way when he felt her eyes on him and she had a fond look and a soft smile on her face.

“Yeah, I do. I always wished we could have a pet, but with the bakery, it’s not possible. I wanted a hamster for the longest time because it wouldn’t leave hair everywhere as a cat or a dog would, but even that was a big nope,” she sighed. “You like animals too, right? You seemed to love Titus very much.”

He nodded. “I also have a cat and a cow,” he shared with her. That was the only thing he was willing to share at the moment, he didn’t trust her with anything else.

“That’s nice,” she said softly.

But then, he wasn’t in her room anymore but in his, aware that he had made his way back to his room when the other part of him was with Marinette.

Alfred the cat was napping on his bed next to him and Damian sighed as he petted him softly, careful not to wake him up.

“I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t open that file…” he whispered to himself.

Just this once, Damian decided it would be better to learn to know Marinette the normal way.

Who knows how long it would take for her to gain his trust, or for him to gain hers — even if she shared things about herself with him, it was obvious that her trust was not easily gained. Something told him that it wasn’t always like that though — but he would do it the normal way.

* * *

Ladybug cursed at the sight in front of her. Paris was completely destroyed. Buildings had collapsed on themselves, people were screaming in the street, and Chat Noir was panting beside her, just as exhausted as she was.

An Akuma had appeared a little bit less than an hour ago and had done so much damage already. She didn’t care about their name and she didn’t think that this particular Akuma even gave them one in the first place, she only cared about how they were going to defeat him.

The Akuma could create shock waves, small ones, and big ones, which explained the collapsed buildings. Whenever they approached the Akuma, they would create a small one that would throw them away from her, and damn did it hurt.

She had hurt her head pretty badly earlier, and she was sure that she had a concussion if the way her vision blurred and how she struggled to speak full sentences were any indicators.

And then, to make things worse, Damian had to appear beside her right in the middle of an Akuma attack.

“What the hell…” was his reaction when he saw the amount of destruction in the French capital.

He then looked at her, his eyes widening. Yeah, she knew that she looked like hell, and like she was about to collapse any second now, thank you very much.

“You’re a hero,” he said in a serious voice.

Not really what she was expecting him to say, but then again, he was seeing her as Ladybug and not Marinette, so fair enough.

So much for secret identities.

“Now is not the time for that,” she said or tried to at least as her words came out in yogurt.

“What did you say,” asked Chat beside her but she paid him no mind.

Damian was in front of her in an instant, his hand cupping her face, inspecting the left side of her head where the blood was coming from. It was the first time they touched, she thought, and she could actually feel him, feel his warmth and it was weird but right at the same time and… And she couldn’t think straight with her head pounding like that.

The green-eyed boy cursed. “You got a concussion. A pretty bad one. Your partner needs to end this as soon as possible.”

Ladybug shook her head, making Damian release her face. “I can’t. I have to help him. I need to call my luck charm,” she said, but the look on her soulmate’s face told her that her words were yogurt once again.

She turned away from him and towards her partner who was looking at her, waiting for her to form a plan, to go back into the action, to just do something, but Ladybug didn’t know what to do anymore, she just wanted to lie down and sleep, and her head was killing her and-

And before her thoughts could spiral more, she called her lucky charm.

She honestly couldn’t remember what her lucky charm was, what her plan was nor what they did, but the Akuma was dealt with, the white butterfly released, and the Miraculous cure cast.

And Damian was still there, staring at her, his left eyebrow raised as if he was judging her.

“Are you going to talk?”

Ladybug sighed. It’s not like she had much of a choice now, did she?

* * *

Damian found himself on the Bat computer once again, researching Hawkmoth and the Akumas. Marinette had told him about the day the terrorist appeared, taking control of one of her classmates to wreak havoc in the city. How she had found her Miraculous and was basically told to go save the city. Her, a thirteen-year-old at the time, without any training or adult supervising her.

Who could be so stupid to throw a teenager in such a mess like that?

Yeah, Damian was younger than she was when he became Robin, but he’s been raised in the League of Assassins since his birth, he knew what he was doing, unlike Marinette who was acting on instinct.

Tim appeared behind him, his footsteps were silent.

“So you found out about her being Ladybug?”

Damian glared at him. “You knew?”

Tim raised an eyebrow at his younger brother. “You didn’t?”

Damian scowled and turned his attention back to the screen. “I didn’t open your file. I found out because I visited in the middle of an attack and she was in her hero persona.”

Drake was silent for a moment before he asked, a bit hesitant. “Why didn’t you open the file?”

“I just didn’t!” he snapped.

The oldest of the two raised both his hands as if surrendering. “Fine, fine! Is the situation there as bad as it’s shown in the French media?”

Damian nodded. “The city was completely destroyed when I was there. The Akumas are very violent and it’s only to Ladybug’s cure that it doesn’t stay like it or that they’re all still alive.”

“Nothing we can do, though,” said Tim, “the guy took control of a fucking baby more than once. Just a little bit of negative emotion is enough to be at his mercy. Better not get there.”

Damian had to agree with his statement.

* * *

It was supposed to be a good day, Marinette thought with a frown. She had woke up on time and got in class with five minutes to spare. Ms. Bustier wasn’t even here yet! She had told Damian everything about her situation two weeks ago already, and she was relieved that such a big secret was revealed already. That meant that she could be a little bit more open with him.

And she had been, in the last two weeks, they had seen a little bit more of each other. He opened up a little, but he really didn’t trust her enough to give her more than a little bit of information about what he liked or didn’t like here and there.

It was okay, she didn’t trust him 100% yet either. They would get there when they would.

Damian was cold and rude but she could tell that he was a good person. He was brutally honest, but she kinda liked that.

Getting to know her soulmate helped her move on from Adrien. She didn’t blush anymore around him, and her heart didn’t miss a beat or sped up anymore when he was around.

That was such a relief, to her, and to her friends, who were happy to see her moving on.

It didn’t mean that she was falling in love with Damian, though. She couldn’t even call him a friend yet.

But even if things were looking good and that it was supposed to be a good day, the sight in front of her told her that it would be anything but a good day.

Marinette frowned as she looked around. Everyone had changed their seats, the only one open was next to Adrien. She frowned even more at that. She was moving on from the model, she hoped that it wasn’t Alya deciding all of the sudden to pair them or something.

Speaking of, Alya waved at her in an attempt to get her attention.

“Hey, girl! Sorry, we moved the seats! Lila is coming back today, you see, and with her ear problem we thought she should get a seat in the front row, so we all moved to accommodate her,” she smiled at Marinette before pointing to the desk on the last row. “You’re over there by the way.”

Marinette looked at the back of the classroom to see the empty desk. They had put her alone in the back without even asking her.

“Alya,” she started, her hesitation obvious in her voice. “It’s not that I mind accommodating for Lila,” she did, because Lila was a liar, she probably didn’t have a hearing problem, but she was willing to give the girl a chance. “But why did we have to move everyone? Only one person needed to move,” she said in a small voice.

She noticed that Damian has appeared beside her, scowling at her friend.

“Well, Adrien volunteered to help Lila so Nino had to move but I didn’t want him to be alone. And then, Mylène wanted to sit with Ivan, and you know how it is, when more than two persons move seats, everyone wants to move too.”

Marinette bit at her lips. “But…”

_But what about me?_ She wanted to ask, but wasn’t it selfish, to ask that? They all moved seats for selfless reasons, to accommodate a disabled classmate and they didn’t know that Lila was probably lying about that.

She didn’t have the time to say anything else as Ms. Bustier entered the room with Lila.

“Everyone, please, give Lila a warm welcome!”

Everyone talked at the same time, making it hard to understand anything, but Lila beamed at her classmates, clasping her hands together. Her voice alone made everyone shut their mouth to listen to her.

“Thank you, everyone! I’m so happy to be back! My trip to Achu was amazing but so tiring! Helping Prince Ali to come up with ideas to fight world pollution was exhausting!”

Rose squealed somewhere in the class but she could only focus on Damian who scoffed. “The guy only works with children.”

“Tell me about it,” she whispered to him. Thankfully, no one heard her. Everyone knew about her soulmate and wouldn’t question her when she talked to herself, but she didn’t want Lila to know about this particular information.

“Oh!” Lila’s cheerful voice caught their attention again. “Did you leave the front seat open for me?” Everyone nodded and Lila smiled again, delighted. “Oh, guys! I’m so glad you remembered that I got tinnitus from saving Jagged’s cat from getting run over by a plane! Thank you so much!” She exclaimed as she took her seat next to Adrien and got closer to him until only a few inches separated them.

Damian let out a humorless laugh next to her, “As if. If that happened, she wouldn’t get tinnitus from it, she would be deaf. Engineers wear ear protection for a reason, imbecile.”

Marinette almost smiled at Damian’s comment but she was feeling a bit too bitter to let herself smile.

“Marinette,” Ms. Bustier’s voice resonated in the room. “Get in your seat so I can start the lesson!”

Reluctantly, Marinette did as she was told, and Damian followed, not wanting to just stand in the middle of the classroom, even though no one could see him.

“What, are you just going to let them order you around like that?”

Marinette just shrugged. She didn’t want to make a fuss about it. She would talk to Alya later about them forcing her to the back without asking her first. She knew that Alya only had the best intentions when she did it, so she wasn’t really mad about it, but she was a bit bitter with how easily she’s been disregarded, and she didn’t want to leave that unsaid. Alya would understand where she’s coming from.

Damian raised an eyebrow at her, watching her as she took her things out of her bad. Bustier was still getting ready to start the class and her classmates were whispering to each other waiting for the teacher to begin the lesson.

“So, what, you’ll let that slide?” he taunted. In the last few weeks, he had learned to know that she hated liars — he had laughed at the irony, what with her being Ladybug — and injustice.

The blue-eyed girl looked at him. “I’ll talk to Alya later. It’s not like I can just yell that she’s a liar.”

Damian’s eyes narrowed at her and suddenly it felt like she was forced out of her body. She was where Damian was supposed to be and Damian was in her place.

“Did you-” she sputtered indignantly, “did you just take over my body?!”

Damian looked at his hand — _her_ hand — in wonder. “Huh. So I can do that on purpose,” he whispered. “Good to know.”

He then looked at the front of the class, where Lila was discussing happily with Alya, Nino, and Adrien — and why was Bustier taking so long to begin teaching, damn it?! — and he smirked.

Marinette shuddered at the sight.

He was going to get her in so much trouble, wasn’t he?

His voice — _her_ voice — resonated in the class, getting everyone’s attention.

“You know that if you really were that close to a moving plane, you would have gone deaf, right?” he said in perfect French, his gaze locked with Lila’s.

Marinette gripped his arm — _her_ arm, damn it, even if he was in her body, she saw him and not herself, and how weird was that? — and shook it a little, panicking.

“Stop. Please, stop!” She begged him.

She could see some of her friends scowling faces and, _Gods_ , she hated that it was meant for her.

“What- What are you talking about, Marinette? I mean, I get where you’re coming from. I was lucky that I only got tinnitus from that incident.”

Damian scoffed in her body. Some of her classmates were confused, and she couldn’t blame them, it was so out of character of her.

“Bullshit,” he said and some gasps could be heard.

“Marinette!” the teacher exclaimed as Lila’s eyes were gathering tears. Clearly fake, Marinette and Damian could tell. “Apologize to Lila immediately.”

Damian was about to say something else, Marinette didn’t know what, but it wouldn’t be good for her, so she tried to control the bond, however it could be done, she just wanted her body back.

And she got it back, she realized.

Thanks, God.

“I’m sorry,” she said as soon as she got her body back, averting her eyes from the rest of her classmates.

She glanced at Damian, who was pursing his lips and frowning and he looked back at her, ready to say something.

But then he was gone.

She didn’t want to be mean or anything, but she was relieved that he was gone for the moment. He got her in enough trouble as it is.

Lila made a big scene of forgiving her and Ms. Bustier finally began her lesson.

She saw Alya giving her a look that told her they would talk later.

Marinette sighed. It was going to be a long day.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for all your comments! I'm so happy you like this story so much, your comments always bring me joy!
> 
> This chapter is 3k words again, and I'm kinda proud of myself because I always struggle to write more than 2k words, but little victories, you know? I hope I can keep this pace!

Marinette hadn’t been looking forward to the lunch break at all. All morning, she felt like her stomach was in knots. Alya kept glancing at her while frowning, probably confused about her behavior from earlier. Adrien threw disappointed looks her way too, which she returned. Why was he letting Lila lie when he knew about her fake stories?

Marinette was going to kill Damian for the mess he put her in.

The fashion designer was barely seated before Alya slammed her tray on the table and sitting in front of her, Nino taking his seat beside his girlfriend much more calmly.

“What was that earlier?! I’ve never seen you being so mean to someone like that!” the reporter hissed at her best friend. “You can’t just claim that someone is faking a disability. It doesn’t put you in a good light at all.”

Nino put his hand on Alya’s back, rubbing circles to calm her down. “I’m sure Marinette has a reason for acting out like that. Let her explain before jumping to conclusions.”

The Ladyblogger mumbled something that Marinette didn’t catch but relented, looking at the shorter girl with a raised eyebrow, waiting for her friend to start speaking.

Marinette sighed before taking a deep breath.

“First of all. _I_ wasn’t the one calling Lila out,” she said, emphasizing on the ‘I’ before continuing. “I told you guys about how I can take over my soulmate’s body, right?”

They nodded at that. After she had first been in Damian’s body, she had told Alya, Nino, and Kim about the experience.

“Well, Damian was here when Lila was being introduced to us again, and he apparently has no patience for her because he just took over my body and told her off,” she explained, looking at them to see if they would believe her.

She was relieved that there wasn’t a trace of doubt in their eyes. Her friends believed her.

“I knew you would never do something like that,” exclaimed the bespectacled girl. “It was so out of character of you, I was wondering what was happening. Oh, I need to tell Lila so she can understand that you don’t have a problem with her,” Alya said, taking her phone out of her pocket.

Eyes widening, Marinette almost jumped across the table and grabbed Alya’s wrist.

“Alya, no!” she almost shouted, before continuing in a softer voice. “Lila doesn’t know that I have a soulmate, and I don’t want her to know.”

The journalist frowned at that. “But then, she’ll think you don’t like her or something. She’ll think that you see her as a liar.”

Marinette bit her lips, not sure how to proceed from here.

“Look, Alya… Damian may have been the one to say that to her face, but… I do think she’s a liar.”

Her best friend looked ready to protest, to defend Lila but Marinette spoke up before she could.

“It doesn’t matter what I think, really. I don’t want her to know about Damian, okay?”

Nino smiled at his childhood friend before he took his girlfriend’s hand in his.

“Whatever reason Marinette has for not telling Lila, it’s still her choice to share or not. You promised you wouldn’t tell anyone that Marinette didn’t approve of, you remember that?”

Alya sighed before nodding, putting her phone away. “You’re right. I’m sorry I almost told Lila without your permission. I’ll be more careful.”

Marinette nodded in thanks and went back to her lunch.

“Although,” Alya started again. “I don’t know why you think Lila is a liar! She’s amazing, really! If you spent a little time with her, you would see it too.”

The blue-eyed girl groaned at that.

“Alya, please. Don’t force me to spend my time with someone I’m not comfortable with.”

Her best friend pursed her lips before sighing.

“Alright, sorry, I won’t. I just want all my friends to get along.”

Marinette smiled at that. “I know,” she breathed. “And I’m not saying that I’ll go out of my way to not talk to her, but outside of group gatherings, I would rather… not?”

Alya laughed at that. “Alright, alright. I promise I won’t invite her when it’s just us.”

“Thank you!”

After that, Marinette finished her lunch and excused herself from her two friends to go to the bathroom before the afternoon classes started.

Lila met her there, promising to do amazing things to help her in her fashion career, only to sneer and threaten her when she told her that she didn’t believe her.

Lila Rossi really made Marinette uncomfortable, in a way that no other bully ever did before.

She would have to be on her guard when she was around, she thought as she took her seat at the back of the classroom.

“Yo, DC,” a voice beside her called.

The young girl turned to see Kim taking the seat next to her. The boy smiled at her, poking her with his elbow.

“What’s with the long face?”

Marinette smiled at him. “Nothing. What are you doing here?”

At that, Kim groaned. “Max is complaining that I always talk during class. So I thought that I would sit next to someone who knows how to appreciate me, you know?”

“Oh, yes, what an honor.”

“You’re welcome,” he exclaimed before looking around, somewhat anxious. He then got closer to her, leaning in her personal space so that no one else could hear them. “So what’s your deal with Lila?”

Marinette shrugged. “She’s a liar, that’s all.”

“And what’s making you say that?”

Marinette looked at her childhood friend but didn’t see any judgment here. He wasn’t scolding her for calling the transfer student out, he was genuinely wondering why she thought that Lila was lying.

“Well, apart from what I said earlier… Jagged Stone doesn’t have a cat… And how can she be best friend with Ladybug when she literally just moved to Paris? It makes no sense.”

Kim seemed to ponder about it.

“Well, there’s only one way to know for sure, right?” he grinned at her before taking out his phone. Mme. Bustier wasn’t here yet since the bell hasn’t rung yet. “Lila Rossi,” he said in a whisper while he typed their classmate’s name in the search engine.

She got closer to him to look at his phone as he searched for different things, like ‘what happens if you don’t wear ear protection next to an airplane?’ or ‘Jagged Stone’s cat’.

Nothing came up that could confirm Lila’s stories.

“Well, what do you know?” he said as he hid his phone in his jean pocket. “You were right. Good call!”

Marinette smiled at him before facing the board as Mme. Bustier entered the classroom just as the bell rang.

The designer could always count on Kim to have her back.

* * *

It was the next day when he was reading in his room, that Damian got a visit from Marinette and she was mad at him if the glare she gave him the moment she appeared was any indication.

“You had no right to take over my body like that,” she began, not letting him say anything to defend himself. “It’s one thing when we’re not controlling it, it’s another when you do it on purpose without my permission. You got me in trouble with my friends and I was the one dealing with the consequences, not you.”

Damian sighed, knowing that she was right. He had crossed a line by taking control of her body without her permission.

“You’re right. I shouldn’t have done that without your consent. I won’t do it again.”

That was as much as an apology as she would get, and she knew it.

His soulmate sighed, the tension in her shoulders evaporating.

“I think we should set some boundaries when it comes to the body take over thing, don’t you think?”

He nodded and she gave him a small smile.

“Alright. So, no taking over our bodies on purpose without our consent, except when it’s a life or death situation. If you think I’m in danger, you can take over and explain to me later why you thought I was in danger if I don’t understand why you did it. Is that okay with you?”

“Yeah, sounds good.”

“And do you give me permission to do the same with you?” she asked softly.

Damian couldn’t see what kind of situation he couldn’t get out of by himself, but it was only fair to accept to her terms.

“Sure.”

Marinette nodded.

“Good. When it’s not on purpose then… Well, I guess we just don’t have much of a choice then. Just… If you happen to take over my body when I’m in class, can you just… not speak? I can’t say you made a good impression on my friends.”

Damian rolled his eyes. “That kind of person needs to be deal with as soon as possible. If you give them free rein, they will only get more confidence in their lies and no one knows what they would do then.”

The blue-eyed girl nodded. “And I agree with you. But they’re good people and want to believe the best when others are concerned. I tried to tell them, but they’re not convinced,” she shrugged. “I’ll keep an eye on her, she really gives me bad vibes.”

The youngest Wayne frowned at that. “What did she do?”

The fashion designer bit her bottom lip in a nervous gesture. “Apart from lying? Well, she didn’t like that I called her out on her lies in class,” at that statement she threw him a small glare. “So she threatened me, saying she would take all my friends away from me and make my life hell,” she rolled her eyes.

“So not only is she a liar, but she’s a manipulator. Great.”

“Yeah, I’m not sure how far she’s willing to go to get what she wants so I’ll have to be careful around her.”

She settled on the floor, her back on his bed — she was really respectful of his personal space, he noticed once more, as she chose to sit on the floor rather than on his bed next to him — and she had to twist her neck to look at him.

“Anyway, what are you reading,” she asked with a smile.

And Damian smiled a little as he showed her the cover of his book.

* * *

It wasn’t until weeks later that Marinette got the chance to get back at Damian for what he did when he took over her body on purpose.

Except, it really wasn’t on purpose, and the young girl wasn’t looking to get back at him at all. Marinette’s classes had ended for the day, and she was free to do whatever she wanted so she thought she could work on a commission from Jagged when she suddenly wasn’t in her room anymore. She was in a classroom, a pen in her hand and a very annoyed Damian beside her.

The first thing he did when he realized that she had taken over his body was to scoff.

“Of course it had to happen when I’m in class.”

Marinette — in Damian’s body — gave him a sheepish smile. “I’m sorry,” she whispered as to not catch his classmates’ and teacher’s attention. “I didn’t do it on purpose.”

He seemed to soften a little at that.

“I know. It’s just that those idiots are suspecting that I have a soulmate, and I would rather not confirm it,” he sighed, arms crossed against his chest.

Marinette frowned. “Well, it was only a question of time, you know? Since when talking to me it looks like you’re talking to yourself. And the body switch was bound to happen when they’re around at some point,” she whispered.

He pursed his lips. “I know, but the later it happens, the better.”

Marinette felt a bit hurt at his words. Was he ashamed of her or something?

He must have noticed her hurt feelings because his hands reached out to squeeze her shoulder.

“It’s not you. I just don’t like when people put their nose where it doesn’t belong. Even if they know, it shouldn’t get back to the press, anyway. They have a contract to sign every year to not give any information to the press. Same things with pictures on the internet, they can’t put any without my explicit consent,” he scoffed. “They respect the contract, surprisingly. I guess no one wants to be sued by my father.”

Marinette pondered at that. Were Damian and his family important people? She still didn't know his last name.

Damian elbowed her to gain her attention. “Davis is trying to get your attention,” he hissed.

Marinette turned to the front of the classroom, focusing on the teacher.

“What?”

“I said to pay attention,” the teacher, Mr. Davis, said in a frown.

“Oh, I- I’m sorry!” she squeaked.

Next to her, Damian hid his face in his hands, groaning.

The next second, the whole class turned to face her, incredulous expressions on their faces.

The boy who sat right in front of Damian leaned in, looking at her right in the eyes.

Marinette’s eyes widened as she leaned back into her chair, trying to put distance between them.

The boy’s blue eyes widened then, and a big grin appeared on his lips.

“Holy shit. Guys!” He exclaimed. “We were right! Wayne does have a soulmate! His eyes are blue right now!”

Wayne? Was that Damian’s last name?

The boy smiled at her, extending a hand for her to shake. “My name’s Claude! What’s your name?”

Marinette shook his hand. “Marinette,” she breathed, a bit intimidated.

“Marinette?” he repeated louder so his classmates could hear. They all seemed so excited. “It sounds French.”

“Yeah, that’s because it is,” she confirmed.

The teacher seemed exasperated and tried to redirect his students’ attention back to the lesson, to no avail. He eventually gave up since there were only five minutes left and wrote the homework on the board.

Damian pointed to the board with a tilt of his chin and Marinette wrote down the homework while talking to Claude.

She talked with him until the bell rang, the class ending and at the same moment, Damian got his body back.

“Hey, can I have your number,” Claude asked only to be met by Damian’s glare, his eyes back to green. “Oh, it’s you,” he noted, disappointed.

Damian just put his things in his bag, glaring at Claude the whole time before exiting the classroom.

So much for keeping people out of his business.

And did Marinette have to be so outgoing? Of course, she would get along with his classmates right away.

* * *

Damian was pissed that Marinette made friends with his classmates but she was delighted. She understood why it annoyed him since she was literally using his body to talk with people he barely interacted with, but at least, she never did it on purpose and it was better than what he did with Lila, really.

What annoyed him the most, he told her, was that people were now coming at him with questions about her. They stopped after a few glares though, so all was well now.

It’s been three months since then, and she managed to get Claude’s phone number when she accidentally took over Damian’s body once more when he was in class.

But that first switch in his class gave her one information: her soulmate’s last name. It didn’t ring any bell to her, and she wasn’t going to research it. When she told him so, Damian had asked her why she wouldn’t do it.

“Well,” she had said, “with how you said that your father would sue if anything about you leaked to the press or on the internet, it was pretty easy to guess that your family was important. The Wayne name is not familiar to me, so it must not be that big a deal in France, but then again, apart from the things that I have an interest in, I don’t really take an interest in celebrities,” she had taken a deep breath then and looked at him in the eyes. “Plus, I want to know you for you, you know? I don’t care about your last name.”

Damian hadn’t said anything then, but he did give her hand a little squeeze, letting her know that he appreciated it.

Apart from those two times, the switch didn’t happen when he was in class anymore.

In those three months, Lila did everything she could to make her life a living hell. She started rumors about how she bullied her, how some weird people would come to talk to her outside of school, how she would talk behind her friends’ backs too.

Fortunately, her friends didn’t believe that. It made a lot of them realize that Lila was, indeed, a liar, but some, like Rose who was an eternal optimist, and Alya who wanted to see the best in her friends, just thought that Lila was confused.

She didn’t mind as long as she got to keep her friends. And when she told Alya that she was painting a target on Lila’s back by uploading her interviews on her blog, she stopped doing so, and her credibility was saved.

There was that one time, though, where Lila managed to frame her for cheating, pushing her down the stairs and stealing her necklace. Kim has been ready to push her down the stairs for real when he heard about it — not that he would ever do that, but the urge to do it was there — and her friends were angry on her behalf. Alya and Rose still thought that it was one big misunderstanding, but they would get there.

One day.

She hoped.

Damian has been visiting when Lila thought she could gloat to her about her plan, telling her that all she had to do to get back in school was to apologize to her or something like that — she hasn’t been listening — but Damian wasn’t happy at all and had asked if he could take over her body for a moment.

Fed up with Lila and her vendetta against her, she gave him her permission.

She didn’t know what he said to the liar as he leaned in to whisper in her ear, but the next day, Lila claimed that she had a disease that made her lie against her will, and she was back in school, the expulsion off her record.

She had asked Damian what he had told the Italian girl, but he refused to say anything.

She had shrugged it off. She was back in school, she still had her friends on her side, and Lila still had no idea that she had a soulmate, so all was good.

Well, as good as it could be, having to share her space with a girl who would go as far as to try to kill Ladybug.

She had discovered during Kagami’s second akumatization that Lila would go very far to get what she wanted.

Those three months as been emotionally tiring for Marinette, and it looked like it wasn’t over.

She has been watching youtube videos late in the night — more like early in the morning — on a Friday night when she suddenly found herself in Gotham’s streets at night. It was cold, she noticed, and she was underdressed for this kind of temperature.

There were loud noises behind her and when she turned around, she saw people fighting.

Or, well, what looked like a scarecrow was fighting Batman and Robin.

But if she was here, then that meant that Damian was somewhere near.

Her eyes locked with Robin’s — she couldn’t see his eyes because of his mask but it was easy to see that he spotted her — and he swore loudly before hitting the scarecrow man in the face.

Oh.

Her soulmate was Robin.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god, guys, thank you so much for all your comments! I don't know what happened last chapter, but it seemed like you all loved it and it makes me so happy you have no idea.
> 
> Your comments always brighten my days, so thank you so much!
> 
> TW: a bit of violence in this chapter but it's not much.

After Batman and Robin left Scarecrow with the police, they retreated on a rooftop. The youngest of the two had been distracted during the fight with Marinette’s sudden appearance and his father has noticed it.

“It’s not like you to get distracted like that,” his father said. “What happened?”

His voice was cold, as usual when Bruce Wayne was in costume, but Robin could hear the concern in his voice.

He hated to make his father — and his brothers and Alfred too — worry about him.

Robin sighed as he glanced at Marinette who was still there, having witnessed the whole fight.

“Dupain-Cheng appeared in the middle of the fight.”

He felt more than saw his father tense beside him.

“I see,” he breathed after a long silence. “We knew it was going to happen eventually. I’ll let you explain it to her, I’ll go back to the cave and inform the others of the situation. I’ll see you then.”

Robin nodded and watched as his father disappeared in the night before turning to face his soulmate, who was looking at him with a blank expression.

Marinette was usually so expressive, the lack of emotion on her face didn’t sit well with him.

“Are you going to say something? Yell at me or… Just say something, Dupain-Cheng.”

Marinette bit her bottom lip in a nervous gesture.

“I’m not going to yell at you. I understand why you didn’t tell me. I mean, I didn’t tell you about me being Ladybug either, you had to find out by yourself. I’m not mad at you,” she said, but there was still no emotion on her face.

“If you understand, then, what’s wrong?”

“It’s just,” she began, looking away from him. “It was so brutal. Don’t get me wrong, Akumas are brutal too, some more than others, but every injury gets healed, everything that was destroyed gets repaired… But here, there’s no Miraculous Cure. When you’re hurt, you stay hurt. When you die, you don’t come back.” She took a deep breath. “I guess I’m just worried about you.”

Robin nodded. “Don’t be. I’ve been doing this for years, I’ve been trained for it.”

_Unlike you_ was left unsaid.

Marinette smiled at him, but it wasn’t one of those happy smiles he was used to seeing on her lips.

“So. You’re Damian Wayne. You like animals. You like to draw. You’re Robin and you’ve been trained for this role.” She looked at him, looking sadder than before. “That’s pretty much all that I know about you. Are you going to tell me more?”

She looked so hopeful and Robin almost hated to break that hope.

“I don’t trust you.”

Yet.

“Fair enough.” She turned around, her back facing him. “I would lie if I said you had my whole trust too, but you have some of it already.”

Robin was about to say something, what exactly, he didn’t know himself but she was gone the next second.

* * *

It was a month and a half later, after a few visits where he learned more about Marinette that he found himself in her body when she was transformed.

It was in the middle of an Akuma attack. One not as brutal as the one he first witnessed. No one was dead in the streets, no building was destroyed. And from what he could see, the Akumas was based on the theme of love, and would only make people in love confess their true feelings.

Marinette told him that Akumas as harmless as those were a rarity these days.

That could explain why her partner was being so annoying now.

Seriously, did the guy ever stop with the puns? Worse, did he ever stop flirting?!

“I was thinking that, after this, we could go on a date? You know, just the two of us, the night, the stars and some candles,” the Catwoman copycat said while wiggling his eyebrows.

Damian could hear Marinette sigh in exasperation, which confirmed to him that this situation wasn’t something new.

“No,” he said coldly, before giving his attention back to the Akuma victim who was screaming something about love.

“Aw, come on Bugaboo!” What kind of nickname was that? “You’re always saying that! If you gave me just one chance, you would see that we are made for each other. We’re soulmates, we’re meant to be, my Lady!”

For some reason, that last statement really pissed him off. It must have shown on his face — or rather, Ladybug’s face — because he saw Marinette’s eyes widen, her hand extending toward him as if to stop him.

“Damian-” she started, but he didn’t give her a chance to finish before he got into Chat Noir’s personal space.

“Shut up. Don’t use that term loosely. You’re not my soulmate and it’s sick that you pretend that you are. Do you even know how a soulmate bond work? I doubt it because if you did, you wouldn’t be spouting nonsense like that.” He took a deep breath then, looking into the cat boy’s eyes. “You listen to me, now. I told you no. I told you no, now, and I told you no before. Respect it and stop asking me out.”

He didn’t let the boy say anything else before engaging the Akuma into a fight. It didn’t take him long before finding the Akumatized object.

Just like he saw Marinette do it that first time, he broke it, purified it, and cast the Miraculous cure.

Two minutes later, he was in an alley away from prying eyes, Marinette by his side.

“How do get out of this transformation?” He asked after a long silence.

“You just have to say ‘spots off’.”

He did as she said and the transformation dropped, Tikki the Kwami disappearing in the purse he — or rather, Marinette — was carrying.

Marinette was frowning in front of him, and he realized that he may have overstepped with her partner.

“I…” He began, not knowing how to address the issue. “I shouldn’t have talked to your partner like that. It wasn’t my place.”

Marinette smiled at him.

“I’m not mad,” she said. “Chat Noir is always flirting, and I told him no so many times that I’ve stopped counting, but he still asks me out. It’s annoying, especially because he’s doing it in the middle of battle.”

She fell silent for a second but Damian didn’t say anything, knowing that she wasn’t done.

“He always says that we’re soulmates, you know. Because our Miraculous are two parts of a whole, he’s convinced that it means that we’re soulmates. At first, it didn’t bother me that much. I mean, it was annoying because I didn’t like him like that, but I wasn’t aware that I had a soulmate then. But now…” she took a deep breath. “Now, every time that he’s saying that, it hurts. Because, even though we don’t know each other well, even though you don’t trust me and I don’t totally trust you either, _you’re_ my soulmate. You and no one else.”

He knew exactly what she was talking about. When he had heard the Cat Hero claim that Ladybug and he were soulmates, he had felt a pain in his chest and along with it, the need to punch him in the face.

How could he use a bond like the one he shared with Marinette as an excuse to force his feelings on his partner?

“But,” Marinette’s voice caught his attention. “He’s a good hero. And a good partner. He always has my back.”

But was it enough?

Damian wasn’t comfortable with their conversation so he chose to change the subject.

“How’s the situation with Rossi?”

Marinette sighed.

“Well, everyone in my class pretty much knows that she’s lying except for Alya and Rose, but that’s okay for now. Everyone is friends, Alya’s credibility as a journalist is still intact since I managed to convince her to not post anything about Lila on her blog. So for now, her lies aren’t doing any damage.”

“Except for your expulsion,” he added with a bitter tone.

She laughed, her laughter humorless. “Yeah, except for that. What did you tell her anyway?”

He smirked at her. “Basically, that I knew that she was a psychopath with a high risk of violence and that she better be careful if she didn’t want to be under scrutiny or worse. Among multiple other threats.”

Marinette raised an eyebrow at that. “Is she? A psychopath, I mean.”

Damian, in Marinette’s body, shrugged. “I wouldn’t know for sure until a specialist diagnosed her as one, but she does fit the criteria: she deceives for her own profit and pleasure, she doesn’t care for her own security or for the other’s, she can’t comply with social standards nor does she feel any guilt for anything she does.” He shrugged one more time. “That’s some of the characteristics of a psychopath. Not all psychopaths are killers or criminals, of course, but Rossi has shown that she was willing to kill you. But like I said, We would need a specialist to be sure that she is one. Anyway, she’s dangerous since she’s willing to kill you. Be careful.”

Marinette nodded. “I will.”

* * *

Their visits continued for the next few months and Damian got to know more of Marinette and of her friends.

He learned that the two boys from one of his first visits were her childhood friends, they had known each other since they were in diapers.

Her best friend was Alya Césaire, a girl who wanted to be a journalist.

Which was ironic for Damian, since the girl couldn’t bother to do her research when the Rossi girl was concerned.

He learned that Dupain-Cheng wasn’t only a fashion designer, she was also a graphic designer. She had designed a cover album for Jagged Stone as well as some posters. When he had told Todd, the older man was impressed. Jagged Stone was one of his favorite artists.

He also learned that Marinette took Free Running classes. She had told him that as Ladybug, she loved running and doing flips on the rooftops, and she wanted to perfect it with classes, but also wanted a reason as to why she was able to do it in the first place, since as a civilian, Marinette was supposed to be clumsy.

He learned that Marinette cared about everyone she met. Her family, her friends, or a random old man she met on the street. She would always put their needs above her own but knew how to be selfish too.

And now, it was summer break — it was August 8th to be specific — and Marinette appeared when he was drawing in his room, Alfred the cat napping on his bed, with a bright smile on her face.

“Happy birthday!” she almost shouted.

Damian frowned.

“How do you know it’s my birthday? I never told you.”

Marinette grinned at him. “Well, I did my research about soulmates when I first found out about our bond, you know. And, apparently, soulmates share their birthday. You know, the whole taking our first breath as one and all that jazz. So, since my birthday is on August 8th, I assumed that yours was too. So, happy birthday!”

He nodded in appreciation. “And to you too.”

Marinette rolled her eyes. “Can’t you just say the words?”

“No.”

“You’re no fun,” she pouted.

He smirked. “So I’ve been told.”

Though he wouldn’t say it, it was kind of nice to celebrate their fifteenth birthday together.

* * *

It’s been one year now since Damian found out about his soulmate bond and met Marinette Dupain-Cheng. One year of random visits, of random controls over the other’s body.

Claude Montgomery, the classmate that Marinette befriended back when she accidentally took over his body during one of his classes, was always talking about Marinette to their classmates. They talked a lot by text apparently and even video called from time to time. He had thought that he didn’t have her number, since when he had asked for it, he had already gotten his body back, but apparently the teenage boy found her on Instagram and they started talking then.

It seemed that Dupain-Cheng even met Allegra Williams, another one of his classmates and a close friend of Montgomery, during one of these video calls.

His other classmates who only met Marinette during that one switch had liked her then and liked her more and more with the information Montgomery gave them about her.

It annoyed Damian that knowledge of his soulmate was common now, but it hadn’t made it to the news so he couldn’t complain.

He didn’t have the time to think about it now, though, as he was in costume trying to fight more than a dozen people alongside his family.

He had taken a hit to the head earlier, which made him a little dizzy, but he could manage.

Robin dodged a punch to his face but didn’t have the time to dodge the kick from the man behind him, and he found himself on the floor. He got back on his feet in second, though, and kicked the first man in the leg.

“Duck!” a feminine voice just beside him shouted.

Instinctively, he listened, and barely a second later, a crowbar struck where his head would have been, had he not dodged.

“Grab the crowbar, pull and kick him in the guts,” Marinette said calmly next to him.

Not that Robin liked to listen to others, but Marinette, as Ladybug, was very good at forming plans and knew how to take advantage of her surroundings.

So he did as she told and the crowbar was now in his hands and after a blow to the head, the man was unconscious.

“Behind you!”

Without even looking, Robin struck behind him and the sound of a man collapsing could be heard.

Looking around him, he saw that his family handled the rest of the men.

He looked back at Marinette who was grinning at him.

“You’re welcome,” she said with a wink before she disappeared.

Huh.

Maybe… Just maybe… He could trust her.

* * *

Damian visited Marinette the very next day, on purpose this time. He had figured how to do it a few months ago, but it was the first time that he sought her out.

She was in a park, alone, a scarf around her neck to protect her from the cold — it was only Fall, but it was already so cold — and she was drawing something in her sketchbook. She hadn’t noticed him yet.

“My name is Damian Wayne,” he said, startling her. “I’m fifteen, I was born the same day as you, but you already know that.”

He took a deep breath then, not sure how he could share more about himself with her. He wasn’t used to be open with others.

“My father is Bruce Wayne. He’s a very famous and successful businessman, that’s why he could and would sue my classmates’ families if something about me leaked to the press.”

He glanced at her. She was looking at him with a soft smile, listening to him.

“I have three brothers. They’re all adopted. I’m the only blood son of my father. I didn’t get along with my brothers at first, I would attack them at first sight. Now, though… I’m trying. I guess it’s nice that they’re around.”

He paused for a moment.

“I like to draw and I absolutely love animals. I am a vegetarian because of that. I don’t have many friends,” he scoffed. “I only have one, really. His name is Jonathan. He always acts like a puppy.”

That made her laugh a little.

“I’ve been raised by my mother and my grandfather until I was ten. My father didn’t even know I existed.”

He sat next to her on the bench, too nervous to remain standing.

“My mother and grandfather… They weren’t good people. I didn’t have a childhood like yours. I would always study or train. I told you I was trained before I became Robin, right?” She nodded. Damian took a deep breath. It was now or never. “My mother and grandfather were the head of the League of Assassins. I was trained, since my birth, to kill.”

Marinette didn’t say anything. She kept looking at him as if waiting for him to keep talking.

“Aren’t you going to say anything?”

She smiled at him.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

He looked at her, not seeing any disgust in her eyes.

“No.”

Her smile widened.

“Then, I won’t ask you anything.”

Damian smiled back at her. A small smile, but a smile nonetheless.

Tentatively, he put his hand above hers. In response, she got a little bit closer to him and interweaved their fingers.

Yeah, he could trust her.

* * *

Marinette was happy. Like, ridiculously happy.

She had amazing friends who were still in her class upon entering _lycée_ , loving parents, and a cute little kwami who was always there for her.

And now, finally, her soulmate was opening up to her.

Even Hawkmoth and Lila couldn’t taint her happiness.

She didn’t know what prompted the change in Damian, but she couldn’t hide her surprise when he started to talk about him like that.

In the whole year they had known each other, she hadn’t known anything more than his name, that he liked to draw and that he loved animals.

She figured that Damian was a very private person with trust issues. That, maybe, he had difficulties with social interactions. He wouldn’t be the first one with those issues she met.

So she told herself that she would be patient. That she wouldn’t ask questions until he chose to open up.

And he finally did.

Ever since then, every time they saw each other, he would try to find something about himself to tell her.

He also started to touch her a little. He would hold her hand sometimes, or he would just sit next to her with their arms touching.

It was little touches like those that made her realize that he started trusting her.

And with that, she started trusted him more.

She smiled as she watched him. She had appeared in Gotham during daylight. Damian seemed to be in a park. She recognized his dog, Titus, laying beside him as her soulmate’s attention was on something else.

A little stray cat was on his laps, begging for his attention.

Her smile widened as he took the cat in his hands and lifted it in front of his face.

The cat mewed before licking Damian’s nose, making him laugh.

A real laugh.

_Oh, no_. She thought, feeling her cheeks warm up.

Damian finally noticed her and smiled at her, relaxed with the two animals.

_He’s cute_.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all your comments! You always make me so happy with them!
> 
> You're now all going to hate me because of this chapter.
> 
> **TW: Blood, Death, Murder.**

A month and a half passed since the change in Damian and Marinette’s relationship. A month and a half of Marinette having to try and control her blush around Damian.

She wasn’t in love with him. She knew she wasn’t, but she couldn’t help but notice things about him. How she would see him pet every stray cat he would come across. How he would smile when Titus jogged to him or how sometimes, he would do something nice for one of his siblings without them ever knowing about it.

It warmed her heart that he would now let her see things like that.

She wasn’t in love with him, but she couldn’t deny the tiny crush that she was developing on him.

Overall, she was happy.

But when she woke up this morning, she wasn’t happy.

She had been in a bad mood for the whole week. Not only was her period fast approaching, but Lila had tried yet again to get in Ladybug’s way during an Akuma attack.

It scared and angered Marinette how close she had been to be successful this time.

Chat Noir had been so angry too, she had wondered if she would have to prevent him to use his cataclysm on the girl.

In the end, she hadn’t succeeded, but the angry feeling didn’t leave Marinette for the whole week, and it came back when she woke up that morning.

She woke up to see that her period started and that it wouldn’t be kind to her.

She had cramps like she never had before and could barely move from her bed after her trip to the bathroom.

Her mother had come to wake her up for school and she had snapped at her, only to apologize right after. She was lucky that her mother understood her state and told her to stay home for today after she gave her a hot water bottle for her cramps.

As much as Marinette wanted to go back to sleep, she was hurting too much to find the peace to doze off.

It was hours later, grumpy from the pain and boredom that Damian appeared next to her.

He looked as grumpy and annoyed as her as he looked her over.

“So you’re really on your period,” he said bluntly, which made her raise an eyebrow at him.

He rolled his eyes.

“My stomach aches and I’ve been snapping at anyone talking to me. My brothers figured that I was experiencing PMS or something in the like and they’ve been laughing since then, the idiots.”

Marinette laughed. “Sorry for the inconvenience. I’ve been thinking about watching the movie. Want to join me?” She asked as she patted the space next to her on the bed.

He laid beside her. “I’m not watching cheesy movies.”

“Wasn’t planning to,” she said, blushing a little as his arm pressed into hers.

* * *

Marinette couldn’t help the panic rising inside her as she watched the TV at the beginning of January — it’s been more than a month since Damian’s experience with PMS, and his brothers weren’t letting it go.

For some months now, the fashion designer has been keeping up with some rumors on the internet. The Soulmate Searcher Company, a company that claimed to run research about the soulmate bond with volunteers was apparently more shady than it appeared to.

There wasn’t any proof, but some people claimed that some people with a soulmate bond has disappeared after the company had made a first contact with them. Apparently, the person never said anything about helping the company in their research and wasn’t seen again a few days after the first contact.

There wasn’t any proof. After all, the French Government was encouraging the research of this company, so it couldn’t be that the SSC — Soulmate Searcher Company — would kidnap people, right?

Except that, on the internet, more and more testimonies appeared like that one.

Well, as many testimonies as you can get since only 0.1% of the world population got a soulmate, which wasn’t a lot at all.

Still, it was worrisome for people like her.

But, it was only rumors on the internet.

Until it wasn’t. Now, they were talking about it on TV.

Marinette knew that if the Government really was encouraging this Company and that it was as shady as it seemed, it would be the only time the media would talk about it before being censored.

But still, there was no proof.

“That’s worrisome,” said a voice suddenly beside her.

She couldn’t help but jump from her couch, getting in a defensive position. She sighed, relieved, to see that it was only Damian.

“I didn’t want to startle you,” he said softly.

She took her place on the couch next to him, giving a smile.

“It’s okay. I’m just jumpy because of the subject.”

“I didn’t know a company like that existed in France. It doesn’t seem to have a good reputation.”

“There’ve been rumors on the internet that they kidnap people with a soulmate bond for their research, but there’s been no evidence.”

Damian nodded. “Either it’s a big misunderstanding, or it’s true and they’re really good at covering their tracks. I’ll do some research on them. In the meantime, be careful.”

She nodded. “It should be alright. I’ve only told people I trust and they’ve never told anyone else.”

“Still, you should tell them again how important it is for them to keep it a secret.”

She smiled. “With this, I think they understand.”

She turned her eyes back on the TV, the newscaster has moved on to another subject.

“It’s probably just rumors, anyway,” she said, trying to convince herself and to get rid of the foreboding she felt.

Damian took her hand in his and squeezed a little.

“Probably. You know that a lot of people like to give in conspiracy theories. It’s probably just that. But I’ll look into it just in case.”

She smiled at him and gave him a soft kiss on his cheek.

“Thank you.”

She really hoped that it was only rumors and that the disappearances had nothing to do with the SSC.

* * *

Damian was in the Batcave with Tim, each on different computers.

“What is it you want to research?”

The youngest Wayne looked at his brother.

“The Soulmate Searcher Company. It’s a company based in France that is supposed to research on the soulmate bond with volunteers, but there have been rumors about shady business and disappearances of people with a bond. I want to see if it’s true or if it’s really just rumors.”

Tim nodded. “Better safe than sorry, right. Let’s get to it, then.”

The company was very careful of their security, so it took them days to break through, but they managed.

At first glance, the company wasn’t doing anything illegal. They found contracts signed by people with a bond, saying that they agreed to help the company in their research, so they could try and understand how the bond worked, why only some people had it, etc.

They noticed that there was a long time when no one volunteered anymore, which was weird. Why would people suddenly stop to try and help science?

It’s as they dug deeper that they found something else. The SSC apparently has been hiring mercenaries for two years now.

“If people really came on their own will, there wouldn’t be the need to hire mercenaries in the first place,” mused Tim.

It was evident that the company did this in the back of the French Government, who really thought they were helping the research by backing up this company.

“They’re giving money to people so they can report people with a soulmate,” Tim exclaimed. “That’s probably why there have been more disappearances lately! Some people would do anything for money…”

It was true, unfortunately. But, thankfully, it was only a very few people who were ready to throw others to the wolves in order to get money.

Or, he thought, people like Lila Rossi. He really wouldn’t be surprised if the girl tried something like that, just because she didn’t like Marinette.

Fortunately, the girl had no idea about Marinette’s bond.

“Are you going to tell Marinette?”

Damian nodded. “As soon as I see her again, yes. She will need to be extra careful from now on.”

“In the meantime, I can try to send all those pieces of evidence to the French Government anonymously.”

“You can try,” Damian mused. “But I’m not sure it’s going to be taken seriously.”

“Yeah, well,” Drake sighed. “It’s better to try to do something than nothing.”

* * *

Ladybug watched around her in horror. People laid on the ground, dead. There was so much blood everywhere, it looked like someone had wanted to paint the streets of Paris red.

The Akuma was nowhere to be seen. Chat Noir wasn’t here either. He was probably looking for the Akuma, just like she was.

But as she ran on the rooftops of Paris, she only saw more and more corpses. More and more blood. Children and adults crying and screaming next to their dead loved ones.

She was going to be sick.

It wasn’t the first time that a deadly Akuma like this one happened. She should be used to the sight of blood and grieving people, but she wasn’t.

She wanted to cry with them. She wanted to punch Hawkmoth in the face, to hit him until he lost consciousness, to see him get sentenced to a lifetime in jail.

She wanted all the pain to stop.

As she stopped to look around, hoping to find the Akuma, she felt Chat Noir land next to her. His face was hard, and it looked like he was going to be sick too.

“Have you found the Akuma yet?”

She shook her head.

“You?”

“No, nothing.” He let out a shaky breath. “You would think that you would hear such a deadly Akuma, but all I can hear are the screams and cries…”

There were so many deaths already, and the attack hadn’t even started an hour ago.

“That Akuma is probably very fast. We’ll need to separate to find them,” she turned to face her partner. “If you find the Akuma, don’t engage alone. Call me and wait for me, alright?”

He nodded. “Same to you.”

“Of course.”

She watched as he left, taking the west part of the city, and left for the east.

The more she went to the east, the less blood and dead people she saw so she decided to change direction and went for the south.

Chat Noir still hadn’t called, so she assumed that he didn’t find the Akuma either.

As she made her way to the south of the city, she could faintly hear people screaming. Not the sad and desperate screams from earlier, no. Those were screams of pain and fear.

She stopped in her tracks to call Chat Noir, giving him her location so he could come as soon as possible.

As she hung up, Ladybug could feel knots in her stomach. The feeling of dread was becoming more and more intense.

For the first time in a very long time, Ladybug was scared of this Akuma.

Forcing herself to move, the hero made her way toward the screams.

Her eyes widened when she arrived. The Akuma looked like The Grim Reaper itself. She couldn’t see their face because of the hood of the black cloak. Their weapon was a giant scythe, and it was no wonder that there was so much blood in the streets.

Ladybug wanted to wait for Chat Noir to join her before engaging as she had promised, but people were dying right now. They were dying in front of her eyes, and she couldn’t possibly let it happen, even if her cure would bring them back.

Her eyes searched for anything that could help her in this fight when they landed on a figure in the middle of the street.

Lila Rossi was standing there, watching as the Reaper killed another victim.

As much as Lila Rossi was dangerous, always getting in her way as Ladybug to defeat the Akuma. As much as she tried to kill her, she couldn’t possibly leave her there in the middle of the street.

She was a hero, and a much as she hated the girl, she couldn’t live with the knowledge that she let her die in an Akuma attack.

Silently, she landed in front of her, grabbing her arm as gently as possible in her state of panic.

“What are you doing?!” She hissed at the girl, pulling her to her. “Don’t you see how dangerous it is? You’re going to get killed if you stay here.”

She was about to gather Lila in her arms to get her to safety when the liar grabbed her arms, pulling hard to keep her on the ground.

“You’re not going anywhere, Ladybug,” she spat her name. “Today is the day you and that mangy cat lose.”

“What are you-”

She didn’t have the time to finish the question. Lila pulled her to the side and the next moment, she felt a pain in her back and chest like she’s never felt before.

Looking down, she could see the tip of the scythe coming out of her chest. She realized that Lila was there on purpose, so she could hold her back and put her in the Akuma’s range.

As the Reaper took his scythe out of her, Ladybug used the last of her strength to run away with her yoyo, hiding somewhere. She wouldn’t let Hawkmoth have her Miraculous.

As she collapsed on a rooftop, she wondered how this fight could be won if she was incapacitated. Chat Noir would arrive on the scene, not seeing her or the Akuma. He wouldn’t know where to find her.

Paris was doomed, wasn’t it?

She heard a gasp next to her and turned her head to see Damian, clenching his chest as if he was hurting as much as she was.

He probably was, because of their bond.

“Damian,” she whispered, lacking the strength to talk louder than that.

She weakly raised her hand, trying to reach him.

And then, she knew no more.

* * *

When Damian woke up that day, the feeling of dread was already there.

He had tried to shrug it off as he began his day. Todd couldn’t help himself and joke about the PMS incident as he referred it to, and Damian didn’t try to stop himself as he threw a knife at him. Of course, he had dodged it. Unfortunately.

His brothers will never let him live without reminding him of this incident at least once a week.

After petting and feeding his pets, he went to school, the foreboding still there, and heavier.

Yet, as his classes passed, nothing happened. No Joker to break out of Arkham, no Scarecrow to test his newest experiment, no bank robbing, nothing.

And yet, he couldn’t shake off the impression that something wrong was going to happen very soon.

It wasn’t until the beginning of the afternoon — and what would have been early evening for Marinette — when he was going to his first class of the afternoon that he felt a great pain.

The pain was so great that he was left breathless as he clenched his chest. He barely registered that he had fallen on the ground, in the middle of the corridor, in front of who knows how many students.

“What the fuck, Wayne?! What’s going on?”

He recognized the voice as Montgomery’s. It probably was his classmate’s hands on his back too, trying to ground him, but all he could focus on was the pain and the fact that he couldn’t breathe.

But then, he wasn’t in his school anymore, he wasn’t surrounded by his classmates.

He was in Paris. A Paris that was oddly silent.

When he turned to look around — still in pain, still breathless — his eyes landed on Marinette.

Marinette, who was currently Ladybug, and who was bleeding. She was bleeding so much that if he didn’t do anything right now, she would die.

He couldn’t help the gasp that left him at the sight of her, but it seemed to get her attention.

His heart clenched when she weakly said his name and tried to raise a hand toward him.

He moved so he could take her hand, but then, her eyes became dull and he was back in Gotham, in his school, like he was never in Paris in the first place.

She died, he realized, numb.

Another kind of pain in his chest made him huddle in on himself.

He felt Claude’s hands on his back as the boy called for the school nurse, but he didn’t care. He wanted Marinette here with him, but she was dead.

The pain in his chest intensified and he passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, I'm going to hide hahahaha


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been cruel to you last chapter, I'm so sorry hahaha
> 
> Thank you all for your comments, they always make my day!

Damian woke up to the sound of hushed voices. He tried to open his eyes, only to close them right away when the light of the sun was too bright for his tired eyes.

He frowned, confused. He could feel that he was on a mattress, and he was covered with a blanket. But he didn’t remember going to bed or falling asleep.

What confused him more was what he was feeling. Or rather, what he wasn’t feeling. The youngest Wayne felt like he was missing something, something big. It was like he had become devoid of any feelings.

But he couldn’t understand why he was feeling like this.

Opening his eyes, he looked around. He wasn’t in his room at home. For a moment, he thought that he might have been kidnapped by one of Gotham’s rogue, and the thought didn’t trigger anything in him.

It was a few seconds later that he realized that he was in his school’s infirmary. The hushed voices that he was hearing probably belonged to the school nurse and one of his teachers.

He should tell them that he was awake, but he didn’t feel like it.

He just wanted to stay in this bed and never move again.

Why was he feeling like that? It never happened to him before.

Closing his eyes, he tried to reach out for Marinette, to appear at her side in Paris. Maybe that talking with her would make him feel better. He was sure that he would find what he felt was missing when he will see her smile.

But try as he might, he couldn’t reach her.

Opening his eyes once again, Damian finally remembered what happened.

On his way to class, he had felt a great pain in his chest, making him collapse in the middle of the school. He remembered appearing in Paris, only to see Marinette in her superhero persona, losing too much blood. He remembered her saying his name, trying to reach him, only for her eyes to become dull.

He remembered the anguish he felt when their bond was cut off, and he was back in Gotham.

Marinette was dead.

That was what was missing. That was why he was feeling so empty, why he felt like he couldn’t feel any emotion.

His soulmate was dead.

Sitting up, Damian clenched his chest, trying to breathe. His heart was hurting like someone was stabbing it again, and again, and again, and he couldn’t breathe.

His father appeared in front of him, a panicked look on his face.

“Damian, you need to calm down.”

Bruce took a step toward his son, only to stop when Damian flinched away and his breathing became more erratic.

The youngest Wayne knew that he was having a panic attack, that his father was only trying to help. But he wanted to be alone right now. He didn’t want his father’s worry.

He wanted to be left alone.

Marinette was dead. She died in front of him, and there was nothing he could do.

He tried to be hopeful. Marinette died in an Akuma attack. That meant that her death could be reversed if the Miraculous Cure was cast. Her partner only needed to wear her Miraculous and she would be alive again after that, right?

He calmed down a little at that thought. He didn’t trust her partner to save the day and bring back Marinette, to be honest, but the mere thought that her death could be reversed was enough to calm him down.

His father sat on his bed, his eyes filled with worry.

“I was called by the nurse. You passed out in the middle of the hallway. Witnesses say that you were in pain before you passed out.” Bruce felt silent before he put a hand on his son’s shoulder. Damian flinched at the touch, and Bruce put his hand away, frowning. “What happened?”

Damian looked away, unable to look at his father. He didn’t answer his question. He couldn’t say aloud that Marinette was dead. It would make it real, then.

Bruce sighed next to him. “Do you feel well enough to go home?”

Damian nodded, not uttering a word.

The journey back to the manor was silent. Neither he, Bruce, or Alfred said a word, but he could feel their worry for him in waves.

Normally, he would have felt a little guilty for making his father and Alfred worry like that. But he didn’t feel anything.

It was so weird, to feel nothing like that. He couldn’t help but wonder what he looked like in his father’s and Alfred’s eyes. Were his eyes just as dull as Marinette’s when she died?

Would he always feel like that? Or would it get better as time passed?

If he were to stay like this for the rest of his life, then, Damian didn’t understand why soulmates didn’t die together. It seemed cruel to live a life without any feelings because of a soulmate’s death.

But it would only be for a few hours, he tried to convince himself. Ladybug’s annoying partner would do the responsible thing and use the Ladybug Miraculous.

He had to.

* * *

It wasn’t a few hours.

It’s been two days already. Two days of trying to reach out Marinette at least once per hour, in case the Miraculous Cure had been cast.

Two days of feeling worse and worse.

Two days of not saying a word to anyone. Of Alfred trying to feed him something, only to find the tray of food outside of Damian’s room, untouched.

Two days, just lying in his bed, not moving. Skipping patrol. Ignoring the notifications on his phone. Ignoring his brothers and his father knocking on his door, demanding to be let in so they could talk.

Even his dog and his cat couldn’t bring him the joy he usually felt around them.

Damian could feel his panic grow as time passed. He didn’t know how the Miraculous Cure worked. Would it still work after days have passed?

What if it didn’t work? What if Marinette really stayed dead?

He couldn’t — didn’t want — to imagine it.

He didn’t even have the strength to check the Paris news. It was the only way to know what was happening there, but he didn’t have the courage to take his phone and check it.

He was scared to read an article that would say that the two heroes of Paris fell.

There was a knock on his door that took his attention away from his alarm clock — it read 11 pm.

He didn’t bother to say anything, knowing that whoever it was would leave after a minute of silence.

But then, the door opened — he usually locked it, but maybe he forgot in his current state — and he forced himself to turn around to see who it was.

His father entered, followed by his three brothers. Alfred stayed in the doorway. He felt more than saw Alfred the cat settle on the bed, giving his leg a little nudge.

He watched as Dick sat on his bed, putting a hand on his head, stroking his hair as if he was a sick child stuck in bed. He didn’t flinch this time, indifferent to the touch.

“We found out about what happened in Paris,” Richard whispered as if he was afraid that talking any louder would cause his little brother to break down.

“I can’t imagine what it’s like to lose a soulmate. I’m sorry you have to go through that.”

He didn’t say anything, but he could see that his family had questions and they were going to get answers.

“Your classmates said that you were in pain before you passed out,” began Tim in a soft voice. “Did you… Did you feel her pain?”

Damian nodded and he heard Dick’s little gasp.

“Did you see her?” Asked Jason.

Damian nodded again and this time, Dick gathered him in his arm, hugging him. He didn’t move.

Tim cleared his throat. “There’s still hope. A hero, who I assume is Chat Noir, appeared wearing the Ladybug Miraculous. He’s struggling, and the death count keeps augmenting but… There is still hope.”

It was a few minutes later, with his whole family gathered in his room that Damian said his first words since Marinette’s death.

“I’m glad that we weren’t bound yet when I died back then. I wouldn’t wish for anyone to live that.”

He felt Dick tightening his grip on him as he closed his eyes.

He just wanted to sleep for now.

* * *

When Marinette opened her eyes, the sky was dark and she was cold.

Sitting up, the blue-eyed girl looked around her to see that she was on the same rooftop she had sought refuge from the Akuma earlier. Looking down, she saw that her injury was completely healed, only a light pain remained.

Lifting a hand to her ears, she noticed the lack of earrings.

Chat Noir must have found her and took her Miraculous so that he could defeat the Akuma.

He must have seen who she was then. Chat Noir knew her identity.

Marinette shook her head to rid herself of those thoughts. She would think about it later.

She wondered how much time has passed since she succumbed to her injury. She hoped that her parents weren’t too worried about her.

Her eyes widened as she suddenly remembered that she wasn’t alone in her final moments.

Damian has been there. He has been forced to watch her die.

God, she hoped he was okay. The first thing she will do at home after reassuring her parents would be to reach out to him.

Now, though, she had no choice but to stay where she was so that Chat Noir could give her Miraculous back.

It didn’t take Chat Noir five minutes to join her. He had already switched from Mister Bug to his usual persona.

His face was grim as he handed her her miraculous.

“Thank you,” she breathed as she put the earrings back.

Tikki appeared in front of her, her big blue eyes filled with tears.

“Oh, Marinette,’” the Kwami sobbed. “Thank God you’re alright. I was so scared!”

Marinette took Tikki in her hands and smiled at her.

“I’m okay now,” she said. “I’m okay.”

She let Tikki cry for a few minutes before asking the question that has been plaguing her mind ever since she woke up.

“How much time has passed since…”

“Three days,” was Chat Noir’s cold answer.

Marinette looked up at her partner. His eyes and face were cold.

“We need to talk.”

The dark-haired girl sighed as she stood up. She knew that they would need to have a conversation about it. Chat Noir now knew her identity, and of course, he would want to talk about it. She understood why.

She would need to talk to Master Fu about it too. She was scared that he would ask for her Miraculous now that Chat Noir knew her identity, but surely, he would understand that there was no other way, right?

“Yes, of course. We’ll talk about it. But later, if you don’t mind.”

“No. We’re going to talk now. I’m tired of you always avoiding talking to me.”

Chat Noir’s voice was cold and demanding and Marinette felt her anger rise inside her.

“Excuse me?”

“We’re going to talk now.”

Marinette couldn’t believe her ears.

“Excuse me?!” She repeated in disbelief. Chat Noir opened his mouth but cut him off. “No. Shut up. I agreed that we would talk, Chat, and I won’t run away from this conversation. But we will talk later. You have to understand that I’ve been dead for three days. Three days, Chat! My parents must be worried sick about me!”

She took a deep breath.

“So yes, we’ll talk later. For now, I’m going home. I’ll give a long hug to my parents and reassure them that I’m alive. Then, I’m going to take care of myself, to proceed with the fact that I’ve died. Then, and only then, we’ll talk. Do you understand?”

Chat Noir didn’t say anything.

“Do. You. Understand?” She repeated, her voice harder than before.

“I understand,” he finally answered.

“Good”, she snapped. “I’ll contact you.”

She didn’t waste her time transforming.

“Thank you for saving me,” she eventually said, before leaving.

Marinette dropped her transformation in an empty street five minutes from home. She gave Tikki a cookie and scratched her little head.

“I’m sorry, Tikki. I can’t believe I died like this… I’m Ladybug, I’m supposed to save the day. I can’t be defeated…”

Tikki swallowed the cookie before flying at her chosen’s eye level.

“It wasn’t your fault at all! You were trying to help someone who doesn’t even deserve your help. You couldn’t have known that Lila would do something like that!”

Marinette frowned. “But that’s not true. Lila had tried to pull something like this before. I should have known when I saw her all alone in that street that she was up to no good.”

“You couldn’t bear to let someone die on your watch Marinette. Even if it’s someone who doesn’t deserve your compassion. But that’s why you’re such a good Ladybug.”

Tears gathered in Marinette’s eyes but she refused to let them fall.

“Come on, let’s go home. Your parents must be worried about you.”

Marinette nodded and opened her bag for Tikki to hide.

Then she ran as fast as she could to the bakery.

When she was finally back home, her parents were in the living room, waiting for her.

“I’m back,” she said weakly.

As one, they rose from the couch. For a moment, they froze, looking at her as if they couldn’t believe she was here.

Her mother sobbed, tears falling from her eyes. She crossed the distance between them and took her daughter in her arms.

“Thank God, my baby is alright!” She wailed, her grip on Marinette tight. The teenage girl returned the hug. “We thought we would never see you again sweetheart.”

Her father joined the hug, tears in his eyes.

Marinette couldn’t hold it anymore and she cried with them. She knew that her parents knew that she had died in the attack. Why else would she disappear for three days? She couldn’t imagine how they had felt, knowing they couldn’t do anything, couldn’t even leave the house because the Akuma would kill anyone in their sight.

“I was so scared,” she admitted to her parents as more tears flowed from her eyes. “It hurt so much and I was so scared.”

It was true. She had felt so scared and alone when she was dying. She didn’t want to die, after all. Especially not like that. She had felt relieved and guilty at the same time when Damian appeared. Relieved because she didn’t want to be alone. Guilty, because she didn’t want him to witness her death. She didn’t want to give him this kind of trauma.

“I know sweetie. We’re so sorry,” her father cried. “I’m sorry we couldn’t protect you.”

Marinette sobbed as she tightened her grip on her parents.

There was nothing they could have done. It wasn’t their fault.

“It’s not your fault.”

* * *

It was hours later that Marinette found herself alone in her room.

She had caught a look at herself in the mirror and she looked horrible. She was paler than she has ever been and there were dark circles under her eyes. Her eyes were also red and puffy for all the crying.

She thought that maybe she should wait until tomorrow to reach out to Damian. He would only worry more if he saw her state.

She shook her head, knowing that it was a bad idea. She had to see him now.

The fashion designer closed her eyes, thinking of her soulmate, and let herself go as she felt a pull.

When she opened her eyes, she was in Damian’s bedroom. It was dark inside, the curtains were drawn. She could barely see Damian’s silhouette on the bed, facing away from her.

“Hey”, she whispered, afraid to break the silence.

She thought that maybe he was asleep, before remembering that she couldn’t visit him if he wasn’t conscious.

Slowly, he turned around, sitting up in his bed. She watched as he turned on the lamp on his bedside table.

His eyes widened and he stared at her as if he wasn’t sure that she was really here.

She smiled at him slightly.

“I’m back,” she breathed.

Tears gathered in Damian’s eyes and Marinette thought that she had cried all her tears earlier, but apparently not, because she could feel her own eyes tear up at the sight of her soulmate’s tears.

Damian moved so fast that her eyes couldn’t keep up with his movements, and the next thing she knew, she was engulfed in a hug.

Her eyes widened and tears fell from her eyes.

Damian has never hugged her before. It was the first time that he did more than take her hand or touch her shoulder.

More tears gathered in her eyes as she heard him sobbing against her neck. He was hugging her so tight that she had trouble breathing but she didn’t mind that much.

She was in her soulmate’s arms, after all.

And she had never felt safer than in this moment.

She hugged him back just as tightly, stroking his hair as he cried.

“I’m so sorry… I’m sorry you had to watch me die… I’m sorry I left you,” she cried.

She didn’t know it was possible, but Damian hugged her even tighter at her words.

“I’m sorry,” she said again, burrowing her head against his shoulder.

God, she never wanted to leave those arms.

They held each other as they cried.

It felt like hours before Damian spoke up.

“Never again. Never do that again. I don’t think I would survive if you died again.”

Slowly, he leaned away, his warmth leaving her. His face was still really close to hers and his hand cupped her cheek.

“Never again, you hear me?”

Marinette smiled sadly at him.

“I’ll try.”

She couldn’t promise that it would never happen again. She had no way to know that it wouldn’t happen again, especially with Lila Rossi helping Hawkmoth, and succeeding in killing her.

But she could promise to try and be more careful.

She could promise him that, at least.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much guys for all your comments!
> 
> I... I don't know what happened with this chapter. I just dont.

Marinette stayed at home for the rest of the week after the Grim Reaper Akuma. Her parents were a bit traumatized and wished to spend time with her, unable to have her out of their sight just yet.

She obliged, wanting to spend more time with her parents too. Their business kept them occupied and with school, her duty as Ladybug, and her passion, it left them with little time to enjoy family time.

She did feel a bit bitter that something as drastic as her own death what was pushed them to make time for her, but she pushed the feeling down. She loved her parents dearly and would take whatever time they were willing to give her.

For the whole week, her parents had been doting. She had played video games with her father, cooked with her mother, and played board games with both of them every night.

It was a week that she hadn’t realized she needed before. Damian had told her that after an event like that, she should try to be with her family as much as possible, so he hadn’t appeared to her ever since she came back from the dead.

She understood and even was grateful that he gave her the space to enjoy her family time fully, but she missed him a little.

But with all of that, she had completely forgotten to charge and check her phone.

She shouldn’t have been so surprised, when she finally turned on her phone, to see hundreds of messages from her friends.

It took her more than an hour to answer all of them, apologizing to them for making them worry, telling them that she was fine and that she would be back in school on Monday.

Marinette frowned as she put her phone down after answering all her friends.

Adrien didn’t send any message.

Was he not worried at all about her? Was he mad at her for something? Marinette couldn’t remember doing anything that could have made him mad at her. She was always so careful around him.

Not because she still had feelings for him or anything. No, she had completely moved on from Adrien. But now that she’s trying to be a good friend to him, she noticed that she was on edge around him. Always careful of what she was saying as if she would trigger something if she said the wrong thing or acted the wrong way.

She didn’t know exactly why she felt that way. Adrien never did anything to warrant such a reaction from her.

Maybe it was because he reminded her of someone else…

Speaking of boys with blonde hair and green eyes, she hadn’t contacted Chat Noir yet.

She hadn’t spoken to Master Fu yet either.

Marinette sighed. She knew that she was just delaying the inevitable, but she was really afraid to talk to them.

She was afraid that Master Fu would take the Miraculous away. At first, she wanted nothing to do with it, going as far as trying to give it to Alya. But now, after two years, she couldn’t imagine not being Ladybug.

It was a burden, sure. But it was a burden that she’s been carrying on her shoulders for two years now, and she would be the one to get the job done, now.

As for Chat Noir… She was scared that the conversation they’re going to have may forever strain their partnership.

Chat Noir has always been honest with his feelings for Ladybug, going as far as claiming they were soulmates. A claim that always hurt her after her bond with Damian awakened. It’s not like she could tell him that she had a soulbond without risking her identity, right? What if he knew that Marinette had a soulmate? He would be mad at her for not telling him, that’s for sure. Would he think that she’s been leading him on? That has never been her intention at all.

Sighing, she closed her eyes, trying to concentrate her thoughts on Damian. When she felt the pull of the bond, she let herself go.

When she opened her eyes, she was in Damian’s bedroom. Her soulmate was sitting at his desk, probably working on homework.

He must have sensed her presence because he turned around and gave her a small smile when he saw her.

Her heart may have skipped a beat at the sight of that smile.

“Hey,” he greeted her softly, standing from his desk. He made her way to his bed, sitting on it, and patted the space next to him, inviting her to sit next to him. She smiled at him and sat close to him, their legs touching.

“Hey,” she greeted in return. Tentatively, she put her head on his shoulder, seeking his warmth. She smiled when he put his arm around her waist, bringing her closer to him.

“You’re nervous,” he stated. Of course, she thought, he’s probably been sensing her nervousness for a while now.

“I’m dreading to talk to Master Fu and Chat Noir.”

“You still haven’t?” He asked a bit surprised.

“No, I’ve been… Delaying it.”

“The more you delay it, the less you’ll want to do it.”

“I know,” she whined, burrowing her head in his neck.

He chuckled at her antics. “What exactly are you afraid of?”

Marinette stayed silent for a bit. “To lose my Miraculous… To lose Tikki… I’m afraid that I’ll be forced to abandon Paris. I’m scared that Chat Noir is going to lash out at me…”

“Why would he lash out at you,” he asked calmly.

“Since the beginning of our partnership, Chat Noir wanted us to reveal our identities. At first, I didn’t want to simply because Tikki told me that it was out of the question. But the more time passed, the more I really didn’t want him to find out my identity. Chat Noir… He’s a pretty good partner, you know? But he doesn’t take the situation that seriously. He flirts and jokes during the fights and it frustrates me to no end when he does that. I guess I don’t want him to be a part of my private life…”

She felt Damian nod. “You’ve been separating your life as Ladybug and your life as Marinette.”

“Exactly. And I don’t want them to merge.”

“Understandable.”

They stayed silent for a while, enjoying each other’s warmth.

“I’m sure you can handle whatever they throw at you,” he said eventually.

Marinette giggled.

“You have more faith in me than I have.”

“Someone has too.”

She smiled.

“Do you mind if I stay like that for a while?”

She felt his hand squeeze her waist.

“Not at all.”

* * *

It was the next Wednesday afternoon, after she came back to school and got a warm welcome from her friends, that she gathered the courage to go talk to Master Fu.

She stood in front of his parlor, hesitant to go in just yet.

Tikki peeked at her from her bag.

“It’s going to be okay, Marinette! Master Fu will understand.”

The fashion designer nodded, trying to convince herself that she had nothing to worry about.

She entered before she could run away.

Master Fu was sitting at his table, preparing two cups of tea.

“Ah, Marinette,” he greeted her. “I’ve been waiting for you. Please, have a seat.”

The blue-eyed girl took the seat in front of the old man, muttering a ‘thank you’ when he handed her the cup.

Fu smiled at her.

“There’s no need to be so nervous. I’m not mad at you.”

“You’re not?” She stuttered.

Master Fu shook his head. “Of course not. It was a very violent and deadly Akuma. Are you okay?”

She gave him a small smile. “I am, now. I took a bit of time to rest and spend time with my family.”

“As you should. It’s important to take care of yourself.”

Marinette nodded. “Master Fu… Chat Noir knows my identity, now.”

The man stroked his beard, thoughtful.

“It is unfortunate, but there wasn’t a choice. With Ladybug down, Chat Noir had no choice but to wear your Miraculous.”

He took a sip of his tea, and Marinette thought that he was taking his time on purpose.

“But now, with him knowing your identity and you still unaware of his, your partnership will be unbalanced. You will need to have a conversation and to know his identity if we want you to still be able to work together.”

Marinette flinched. That was exactly what she wanted to avoid.

“So, you’re not going to take my Miraculous away,” she asked, wanted to make that clear before discussing what she had to say.

“Of course not. You’re an amazing Ladybug.”

She gave him a smile but it slipped a second later.

“Master Fu… Do I really need to know Chat Noir’s identity?”

The Guardian frowned. “Don’t you want to know?”

“I would rather not, to be honest.”

“And why not?”

Marinette took a deep breath. “I like to keep my two lives separated. Chat Noir belongs to one life, not the other. I don’t want both of my lives to merge.”

The short man looked at her for what seemed an eternity.

“You don’t have two lives. You’re Ladybug as much as you are Marinette. One can’t exist without the other. Merging them, as you say, wouldn’t be as catastrophic as you think it would be.”

She would be the one to be the judge of that, she thought but didn’t say.

“And I don’t think it’s worth the strain it would put in your relationship,” he added.

“Right,” she began. “You’re afraid it would become unbalanced. But isn’t it already? I’m privy to a lot of information that Chat Noir knows nothing of. Our relationship is already unbalanced.”

“Yes, well…” He frowned. “You can still avoid the worst by sharing your identities.”

* * *

Ladybug was pacing on a rooftop just outside the city, waiting for Chat Noir.

It was almost a month later, after talking about it a lot with Damian, that she decided to contact Chat Noir and get over with this conversation.

It’s been a calm month too, without any Akuma. Either he was planning for something or he was on vacation. Whatever it was, she was grateful for the break.

Ladybug didn’t want to know Chat Noir’s identity. He had seemed so cold back when she woke up after the Grim Reaper. Like he was disappointed that Ladybug was just Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

She knew that he put her on a pedestal and it always made her afraid to disappoint him.

And now, when she was finally ready to talk to him, he was late.

They were supposed to meet fifteen minutes ago, and her partner was nowhere to be seen.

She wondered if she should go back.

As she took a step at the edge of the roof, she heard Chat Noir’s cold voice.

“You’re running away, now? That’s not the Ladybug everyone knows and loves.”

The red-clothed hero turned around, frowning at Chat Noir’s tone.

Her partner was standing in front of her, arm crossed in a defensive posture. His eyes were hard and cold and he seemed ready to fight.

What a good start.

“Chat Noir,” she greeted, her voice soft, hoping to calm him down.

He scoffed. “You finally decided to grace me with your presence after a month and you were going to leave just like that?”

“You’re late.”

“Yeah, well, sorry if I can’t bend to your demand,” he snapped at her.

Stay calm, stay calm, was the mantra she repeated in her mind.

“I’m sorry it took me so much time to contact you. I had to take a moment for myself and my family.”

“You’re not the first one to die in an Akuma attack. You don’t see me taking time off when I die in an attack.”

Her hand twitched with the want to slap him.

Instead, she took a deep breath.

“You’re right. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“Plus,” he started again, “none of that would have happened if we knew each other’s identity.”

Snapping at him would only strain their relationship, right? She had to be the bigger person here.

“You’re… right.”

Chat Noir seemed to relax at that.

“I’m glad you finally opened your eyes.” He smiled at her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to be so hard on you, but I was really worried. You were dead and that was not how I wanted to find out your identity.”

He took a deep breath. “And I know it’s your first time dying in a fight. I know the first time can be traumatizing. I’m sorry I snapped at you for taking time for yourself. I guess I’m just used to it, now…”

He wouldn’t be if he were more serious, she thought.

He smiled at her. “It’s just, sometimes, you need a bit of tough love to open up,” he smiled at her.

That’s not really what tough love is, but sure, okay.

“And I mean, now that I know who you are, and that you’re about to know who I am, we can finally go on a date!”

“Sorry?”

Why was he talking about a date now? They’re talking about their identities, not their love life!

Ladybug began to feel dizzy. She couldn’t keep up with what her partner was saying.

He suddenly looked worried. “I mean… I should show you who I am, right?”

She nodded. “Yeah, it’s better if we want to keep our relationship balanced.”

He brightened at her words.

“Alright. Here I go, then. Plagg, claws in!”

Instinctively, Ladybug closed her eyes just as the bright green light appeared.

She heard Chat chuckle.

“There’s no need to close your eyes. You can open them.”

“Right.”

Forcing herself to open her eyes, she almost flinched when she saw who was in front of her.

“Adrien,” she breathed.

“Hi, Marinette!”

His smile was so bright that it was almost blinding. It was such a contrast to his earlier behavior. Did Adrien always change his behavior so fast?

Then again, he did tell her earlier that he was acting like that on purpose. Tough love, he called it.

Marinette looked at him and… She didn’t know how to react.

Should she say something?

She just felt really awkward.

Can she go home now?

“Aren’t you going to say something,” Adrien asked, looking worried.

“Uh,” she said, feeling a little dumb at the moment. “Sorry. It’s just… Unexpected.”

The young Agreste smiled, seeming at ease.

“I know what you mean. I was surprised and a bit angry when I found out your identity. Angry because you were so close to me the whole time and I had no idea. But then, the more I thought about it, the more it made sense! You’re always so brave and you’re a leader. And I called you our everyday Ladybug. Ironic, isn’t it?”

She nodded, unable to utter a word.

“Look, Marinette. If you would like it, I would love to take you out on a date.”

“Excuse me?”

“I mean, you know that I’m in love with you, right?”

“You’re in love with Ladybug,” she said sharply.

“But, you are Ladybug.”

“It’s different.”

“Not really?” He said, oblivious.

Ladybug sighed.

“Adrien… You didn’t forget that I have a soulmate, did you?”

He flinched.

“Ah, right. I kinda forgot. That’s a no, then?”

“You know it is,” she sighed. “Look, I’m sorry but I don’t like you that way. I want to be honest with you so that we can move on from this and be good partners to each other. Would you please stop asking me out from now on? It makes me really uncomfortable, especially when you claim to be my soulmate. Since I do have a soulmate bond, you have no idea how much it hurts to hear you say this.”

Adrien looked down at his feet, as if unable to look at her in the eyes anymore.

“Wow, I’m sorry. I had no idea it made you uncomfortable. I understand. The last thing I want is for you to be uncomfortable with me. Alright, I’ll stop. I won’t ask you out anymore. And I’m sorry I ever said that we were soulmates. I can understand how it hurt you. I’m really sorry, Marinette.”

He seemed so sad and genuine that it made her heart hurt. She was also happy that he finally understood her.

“Thank you, Adrien. It actually means a lot.”

“We’ll be alright?”

“As long as you don’t do any of your ‘tough love’ thing, we should be.”

Adrien laughed.

“I’m sorry about that. I don’t know why I thought it was a good idea. It must have pissed you off.”

Ladybug smirked. “I really wanted to slap you.”

“Yeah, I can’t blame you.”

Ladybug smiled, happy that the awkwardness was finally gone from her mind and body.

They should be alright, now.

* * *

Ever since Damian hugged her that first time, Marinette noticed that he touched her more and more.

Not in an inappropriate way, though! God, no!

But, now, it felt so natural when he would bring her closer to him by wrapping an arm around her waist when they talk.

He would put a strand of her hair back behind her ear when it fell in her face.

He would reach for her hand and intertwine their fingers as he listened to her as she talked his ear off.

Or, like right now, he would cuddle close to her on his bed as he read his book.

He liked to read a lot, she has noticed.

Unconsciously, he brought her closer to him as he turned the page of his book, making her blush.

Not just a little blush, she could feel her whole face and her neck warming up.

Her heartbeat sped up too, and it was a wonder that he didn’t feel it, with how close they were.

Marinette looked at him from behind her bangs.

Observing Damian became one of her favorite pass time. Not in a creepy way, like she used to do when she was obsessed with Adrien.

No, she liked to learn things about him as she observed him.

And apparently, she learned things about herself too.

She had noticed he was cute, back when he was petting a kitten, but…

When had she started to like him romantically?!

Mortified, she burrowed her face in his neck, trying to hide her blushing face.

“Are you alright?” He asked, concerned, and she could feel the vibration of his voice, making her blush even more.

“I’m fine.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for all your support! I needed a little break and now I'm back with this chapter. 
> 
> Let me tell you, a lot is happening in it.
> 
> Once again, thank you for all your comments, you always warm my heart.
> 
> Also, I wanted to ask something. Do any of you play Among Us? I'm looking for people (who are 18+) to play the game with me (on discord with a vocal chat would be amazing). If you're interested, contact me in my DM on my Tumblr: alexiessan.tumblr.com
> 
> I hope I'll get yo play with some of you! :)

Damian sighed as he took a bite of his apple during breakfast. Grayson was already serving him seconds and his father’s gaze was fixed on him, making the youngest son uneasy.

Ever since the incident of Marinette’s death, his family has been a bit overprotective of him. Always hovering, ready to act if he ever needed something.

He knew that he had scared them back then when he had spent the three days of his soulmate’s death not eating and not moving from his room. But their behavior was starting to grate on his nerves. It’s been more than a month already, and he was fine. Marinette was fine too.

He remembered when he had first left his room after reuniting with Marinette. His father had dropped the cup he was holding and Grayson didn’t waste any time and went for a hug as soon as he saw him.

“How are you?”, Jason had asked.

“Fine. Marinette… Marinette is alive.”

Drake had smiled at him and handed him a plate of fruits. “I’m glad you both are okay. You should eat something now.”

He hadn’t said anything then, taking the plate he was offered and ate with his family. At the time, their presence was comforting, especially after such a hard time.

He had appreciated the hug his father gave him at the end of the meal even more, returning it eagerly. Bruce Wayne was not one for physical affection, after all.

But now, the hovering was bothering him. There was only so much he could take.

Damian smiled as he felt the now familiar pull, and found himself next to his own body, Marinette having taken over.

“Oh, hello,” she greeted his family.

Grayson smiled at her, noticing the change in the color of his eyes.

“Hi, Marinette!” He greeted her and hugged her, taking her by surprise. “How are you? You gave us quite a scare last month.”

Marinette — in his body — broke the hug and smiled at his family who was looking at her with insistence.

“I’m fine now! It was scary but I’m alive, am I not? It happened to a lot of people and I wish I could have helped more.”

“You help plenty already, don’t you?” said Jason. Marinette opened her — his — mouth to say something, but Jason didn’t let her. “If you don’t mind me asking, what happened exactly that resulted in your… uh… well, death?” He said the last word as if it was taboo.

Marinette stiffened, not meeting anyone’s eyes. Damian observed her, wondering if she would actually answer the question.

His soulmate had yet to tell him, or anyone, what really happened during the Akuma attack. While she didn’t have the training that he had, she was still capable, knew how to dodge and when to engage the enemy, so he couldn’t help but wonder what happened.

“It’s… uh… Something that I have yet to tell anyone,” she laughed nervously. “I’ll tell you one day but… I have to talk about it with my partner first, to discuss what we should do about it.”

It occurred to Damian that something — or someone, and he might have an idea about who exactly it could be — might have had a role in her demise.

Dick put a comforting hand in her — his — shoulder and smiled at her. “It’s alright, you don’t have to tell us. I just hope that something like that won’t happen again. You’re too young to go through something like that.”

His face, along with his brothers’, became grim at those words.

Marinette smiled a bitter smile.

“Yeah, well,” she averted her eyes to her laps. “It’s not like I’ve had much of a choice.”

* * *

The school year was coming to an end already — months have passed since the Grim Reaper Akumas and Marinette was finally coming to terms with what happened with a certain classmate — and while she still had to tell anyone about Lila’s involvement in her death, she was in a very good mood.

Adrien had apologized to her multiple time for how he handled their conversation. He told her times and times again that he really thought that tough love would get her to open up to him, but that he had done it poorly. Plagg had apparently lectured him about it afterward and he had felt awful about his behavior.

Marinette had forgiven him the moment their conversation had ended though. She understood why he did it in the first place. After all, she did avoid him and the conversation when she should have been responsible and communicate with him, as they are partners, equals, and not a hero and her sidekick.

And she was glad they had this conversation as their teamwork was better than ever. She had had another conversation with him, shorter and not as heavy as the first one, about his self-sacrificing tendency. He was more careful now, and it lifted a weight off her shoulders.

The Akuma fights were shorter now, less intense as Chat Noir stopped flirting and took his role as a hero more seriously.

She even took time after the fights to hang out with him a little — when they didn’t have obligations after, of course.

And it was during one of those times, after an easy fight against an Akuma, that Chat Noir finally decided to ask the question that has been haunting him for months now.

“Ladybug,” he began, obviously nervous. “I know you don’t like to talk about it, but… I need to ask you. What happened exactly with the Grim Reaper? I just… I just found you and I don’t know what happened.”

The red-clothed hero stiffened before forcing herself to relax. She had meant to tell him soon, but he beat her to it.

Next to her, Damian appeared, as if he had sensed what conversation she was about to have.

Well, it was better than having it twice, she guessed.

She cleared her throat. “Yeah, about that… You’re not gonna like it.”

Chat raised an eyebrow at her. “Yeah? How so?”

“It’s just… You’re so hopeful that… That Lila is actually a good person and she’s… She’s not.”

Her partner rolled his eyes. “Come on, we had this conversation so many times already. Just because she lies doesn’t mean that she’s not a good person. She just wants to make friends.”

Ladybug took a deep breath. “You don’t understand. She was here, during the Akuma attack.”

“I know that she tries to get in our way sometimes, but it’s not…” He didn’t finish his sentence when he saw how serious Ladybug has become.

“It’s not what? Serious? Chat, she was there during the Akuma attack. She was just looking as the Reaper killed people. I…” She choked on her words. “I tried to get her to safety because as much as I don’t like her, as much as she’s trying to get in our way, I can’t just let her in the front line like that. So I tried to get her to safety but…” Tears gathered in her eyes, and maybe, she thought, she was still a bit traumatized by the whole ordeal. “And she restrained me so that the Reaper could kill me.”

“What.” Damian said in a cold voice.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier,” she whispered. “I-”

She didn’t get to tell anything else because he was gone.

She couldn’t focus on that though because Chat Noir was sobbing next to her.

“She… She really did that?”

Ladybug nodded and Chat fell silent after that.

“I’m sorry,” he said after a while. “I’ve been enabling her, haven’t I? I shouldn’t have let her roam free like that. I should have done something, said something.”

The blue-eyed girl shook her head.

“It’s not your fault. You couldn’t have done anything anyway. Neither could I.”

“What are we gonna do with her?”

“Nothing? I mean, there wasn’t any proof so I’m not sure the police will believe me.”

Chat Noir scoffed. “You’re Ladybug. I’m sure your words will have some weight.”

“Even so, Lila is a very good liar. Our class may not believe her because her lies were too much, but she could claim Akumatization to the police, and there wouldn’t be any consequences. Plus, Hawkmoth did akumatize several people at the same time, so it would work.”

Chat Noir nodded, understanding her reasoning.

“So we can’t do anything except being more careful around her.”

“Basically, yes.”

* * *

She waited a bit before visiting Damian, so that he could have a moment to calm down. He seemed angry when he left, and in all honesty, she was dreading her visit.

But she still gathered her courage and let herself be pulled by their bond. When she appeared in his room, Damian was not calm at all.

She watched as he violently kicked his desk chair, sending it to the ground. She had flinched at that, letting out a gasp.

Damian froze before turning to face her. He relaxed a little when he saw her.

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said as he placed the chair back in its spot.

“I…” _I’m not scared_ she wanted to say, but it wasn’t quite true. Damian was really scary when angry.

Instead, she said: “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

Damian frowned. “I understand that you needed time to tell me, that’s why I didn’t pry.” He looked at her and saw how guarded she was. “Wait… You think I’m mad at you?”

“Yes?” She said, but it was more a question than an affirmation.

Damian ruffled his own hair in a nervous gesture. “I’m not. I’m not mad at you! Why would I be?”

“Because I didn’t tell you about Lila?”

He shook his head. “No, no. I told you I understand why you didn’t. I’m not mad at you. I’m mad at her. At me. Because I saw the signs, knew how dangerous she could be and I didn’t do anything to protect you.”

Marinette relaxed now that she knew that he wasn’t mad at her, but frowned at his words.

“Protect me? Damian, you’re in Gotham and I’m in Paris, what could you have done?”

“I could have-”

“Nothing,” she cut him. “Look, I appreciate that you care about me enough to want to protect me, but I can take care of myself. Yes, I know,” she cut him again when he tried to protest. “I didn’t do a good job back then, but it’s nothing that we could have prevented. At least… At least, now, we know how far she’s willing to go.”

Damian nodded and approached her carefully, as if afraid that he would scare her.

Then, he gathered her in his arms in a tight hug.

“I’m sorry I scared you,” he said, his voice muffled as his head was in her neck.

“It’s alright,” she whispered, returning the hug. “I’m going to be okay. Don’t worry too much about me.”

* * *

The school year came to an end, Marinette’s first year of _lycée_ being a successful one. She was glad that she had managed to get good grades, it made her worry a bit less about the exams that were starting the next year.

Summer was a bit boring, though. It seemed that a lot of her friends had plans of travels with their family, and while she was happy for them, it made her feel a bit lonely.

Adrien was still in Paris, but since he had so much free time without school, his father had scheduled a lot of photoshoots and lessons for his son, so she didn’t see him much either, except for the occasional Akuma attacks.

On August 8th, she celebrated her birthday with her parents and got numerous texts and calls from her friends, all unable to be there on this day. It was okay though, she understood and she got to enjoy that time with Damian, who was also celebrating his birthday that day. They were sixteen now.

It was two weeks before they had to go back to school that something unexpected happened.

There was a gas explosion in a building. Fifteen people died and thirteen were badly injured. Witnesses tried to help and a lot of people were involved in the end.

An incident like that meant that there were a lot of negative emotions.

And of course, Hawkmoth took advantage of those poor people’s despair.

Marinette was watching the TV, at the moment, and got to witness the moment red butterflies appeared to Akumatize those people.

She didn’t waste any time. She transformed and made her way to the location. Chat Noir was not far behind her, and the two of them arrived in no time.

It was brutal.

She and Chat could barely keep up. The Akumas were outnumbering them and some were more powerful than the others.

She didn’t have the time or the opportunity to sneak out and go to Master Fu’s to gather Miraculous and form a team.

But luckily, Master Fu did it on his own. Half an hour into the fight, they were joined by Rena Rouge, Carapace, Ryuko, Viperion, and Queen Bee.

It gave them a bit of room to breathe but they all still struggled to fight all the Akumas off.

And in their struggle, Ladybug noticed them.

Hawkmoth and Mayura, on a rooftop, watching them carefully, probably waiting for the chance to join the fight and take them by surprise.

In a few flashy moves, she joined Chat at his side.

“Have you seen them?”

Chat punched the Akuma in front of him. “Seen who?”

She gestured towards the rooftop with her chin, pushing an Akuma away from her.

“Holy shit,” he swore. “What do we do?”

Ladybug dodged a kick, jumped to avoid some rope that was trying to tie her ankles, and kicked an Akuma in the guts.

“We don’t know when an opportunity like that will present itself again. I say we engage them and try to defeat them once and for all.”

Chat was struggling against an Akuma. “Yeah, sure. Why not. It’s going to be difficult though.” Another Akuma fell on the one he was fighting, giving him a break. “What’s your plan?”

“We engage them,” she said as she dodged a punch.

“Ha! That’s not really a plan.”

“That will have to do for now.”

Chat nodded. “On your signal, then.”

Ladybug nodded and, in the chaos, tried to find Rena Rouge.

When she finally found her, she was struggling with a weird Akuma. She didn’t waste time helping her.

“I need you guys to handle those Akumas!” She told her, doing her best to help her teammate.

“What? Where are you guys going?”

“Hawkmoth and Mayura are here! We have to do something.”

Rena’s eyes widened and then a grin appeared on her face.

“Alright, then! Good luck!”

With a nod to Chat, they left the battle to join their nemesis on their spot on a rooftop.

“Chat Noir, Ladybug,” Hawkmoth greeted them. “We can stop this without shedding blood. Give me your Miraculous and all of this will stop.”

“You know our answer.”

“Fine. As you wish, then.”

What happened next was a bit of a blur for Ladybug. Hawkmoth and Mayura were fast and really good fighters. Way better than she and Chat were.

She took more hits against the two of them than against all the Akumas down there.

It was a bit humiliating, to be honest, but she was determined to end Hawkmoth’s reign of terror. So her pride could suffer a bit if it meant that Paris would finally be safe from him.

The fight was long and she and Chat were tired from all the Akumas but they were holding up.

She was a bit dizzy from a hit to the head but there was no way she would give up.

And then, when she was thinking that they would never win against their enemy, Damian appeared next to her, as determined as she was.

“Let me take over. I can defeat him.”

Damian was Robin, a member of Batman’s team. He knew how to fight. He has been trained since he was born.

Who was she to refuse his help?

She nodded, and the grin that appeared on his face was feral.

From now on, she only saw the fight as a spectator.

She watched as Damian, in her body, managed to take the advantage over Hawkmoth. It was obvious he was better, stronger, and faster than him now.

The look of surprise on the villain’s face was priceless.

She watched as Chat Noir fought Mayura with all his might. She watched as Mayura’s face contorted in pain, making her collapse in a violent fit of coughs.

In a fair fight, Chat wouldn’t have acted on it, but it wasn’t a fair fight. It was Paris’s safety on the line, so he didn’t hesitate.

In a fluid movement, her partner’s baton hit the side of Mayura’s head with enough strength to knock her out, but not enough to make too much damage.

It took only a few minutes for Damian after that to defeat Hawkmoth. Her soulmate showed no mercy, and soon, the butterfly’s Miraculous holder was knocked out at their feet.

Damian gave her her body back then, smiling at her.

“Thank you,” she whispered to him as tears gathered in her eyes. It was finally over. Paris was free.

Damian squeezed her hand in his, smiling at her before disappearing, letting her handle the rest.

“We did it,” breathed Chat Noir, not believing it yet.

“We did it,” she affirmed.

She didn’t know how yet, but she was going to do everything that was possible to show her gratitude to Damian.

“Let’s take their Miraculous before they wake up.”

And they did. The scream that left Chat’s mouth when they discover the identities of Hawkmoth and Mayura was heartbreaking. She wanted to take him in her arms and tell him it was going to be alright, but she knew it would be a lie.

Adrien Agreste’s life was never going to be the same again, as his father was the one who’s been terrorizing Paris for years with his assistant’s help.

But Ladybug had another job. As she greeted Nooroo, she unified the butterfly Miraculous with her own so she could take the Akumas away from their victims.

Finally, she cast the Miraculous Cure for the last time.

The aftermath of this battle was… Satisfying, sad, and frustrating at the same time.

Sad, for Adrien who just lost his last family. With the police’s investigating the Manor, his mother was discovered in the basement. Not dead, the doctors said, but in a coma. The reasons for it were unknown.

Satisfying because Gabriel Agreste and Nathalie Sancœur were now in prison, waiting for their trial. Marinette knew that French justice wouldn’t be nice with them.

Frustrating, because when Ladybug went to the police to denounce Lila’s action during the Reaper’s attack, she did claim to be Akumatized.

What confused Ladybug, though, was that Gabriel confirmed it. She didn’t know why he would protect the girl like that, but he did, and now Lila was free of charges since Akuma victims didn’t have to face consequences for what they did when akumatized.

It frustrated her and Chat to no end.

All that happened in the next two weeks.

School was starting again the next day, and she hadn’t seen Damian ever since the battle. She’s been busy with the aftermath and he knew that, fortunately.

But there was no way she would start the new school year without seeing him and thanking him properly.

So when she was supposed to go to bed, she let herself get pulled by their bond and appeared next to him.

He was reading again, but he felt her presence right away and smiled at her, putting his book away.

“Hi,” he breathed. “How are you?”

“Good,” she whispered. “Really good. Things are… Good mostly. Except for Adrien and the whole Lila thing, but we don’t have to worry about Hawkmoth’s threat anymore.”

Damian frowned. “I know about Agreste from the press, but what is it with Rossi?”

“When I told the police about her role in the Reaper’s attack, she claimed to be Akumatized, like I thought she would, but for a reason I can’t fathom, Gabriel Agreste confirmed her story. So she’s not facing any consequences.”

Damian frowned at that, but she cut him off as he tried to say something.

“But enough of that. I haven’t seen you since the battle and…” Her eyes and voice softened then. “I wanted to thank you. Thank you for helping us, Damian. Without you, I don’t think we would have made it. Without you, Paris would be lost.”

“I didn’t do much,” he said.

Marinette shook her head and got closer to him, putting her hand on his cheek, stroking it softly.

“You saved us all. I don’t have the words to thank you. I don’t-” she choked, her emotions tightening her throat.

“Thank you,” she breathed.

Carefully, her face got closer to his, her eyes never leaving his.

Then, his face got closer too, their eyes closed, and their lips met.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all your comments! 
> 
> Also, a little reminder, if you want to play Among Us with me and you're at least 18, I've set up a discord so we can all play. If you're interested, tell me :) 
> 
> A bit of background about Adrien's aunt:
> 
> Amélie Graham de Vanily married a man whose last name was Culpa, but kept her maiden name. Félix, in this story, is Félix Culpa, the name that is going on the Internet for Félix from the PV. In this story, when Félix appears, he's based on Félix from the PV, and not from the show :)

The kiss was nice. Really nice. It was so different, to kiss her soulmate, compared to someone else. It made her feel warm, made her insides melt and she wanted the moment to never end.

Kissing Damian felt right. That was something she could picture herself doing a lot in the future.

God, she hoped that she would get to do that again.

But all good things had to come to an end, it seemed, as Damian gently put his hands on her shoulder and carefully pushed her away from him.

She froze. It wasn’t how a kiss usually end, was it?

Did he not want to kiss her? He had met her halfway, hadn’t he?

Oh god, did she just sexually assaulted her soulmate?

He must have felt her panic because he squeezed her shoulders softly.

“I can feel your anxiety,” he said in a gentle voice.

Marinette blushed, embarrassed that this kiss might not have been as welcomed as she had thought. Unable to look at him in the eyes, she averted her eyes somewhere to her right.

“I’m sorry,” she breathed.

“What?” Her soulmate asked, his voice confused. “Oh. Marinette, no. That’s not… Look at me.”

His hand guided her chin so their eyes could meet.

“I wanted to kiss you. Don’t doubt that.” He exhaled, then, before continuing. “It’s just… I think that all this,” his hand moved back and forth between them, “might be because of the high from Hawkmoth’s defeat-”

“It’s not!” Marinette exclaimed, offended that he would think that of her. “Look, I… I like you, alright?”

Damian smiled at her then, and she felt herself blush again. Damn that smile.

“That’s good to know. I…”

He seemed to struggle to get the words out, not used to get his feelings in the open like that. Not wanting him to do anything that he wasn’t quite comfortable doing just yet, Marinette squeezed his hands that were still on her shoulders, and smiled at him, trying to tell him with her eyes only that she understood what he wanted to say. That she knew he liked her too.

Thanks to their bond, he understood and smiled at her, relieved that he didn’t have to talk about that just yet.

“I just think it’s not a good idea to start something right now. I would rather see you in person for that.”

The fashion designer relaxed at that. He had a point, she knew that. It would be weird to be in a relationship with someone who was like a ghost for everyone else. It was already hard enough to talk to him — she sometimes had to fake a phone call so that people didn’t think she was crazy.

And with the Soulmate Searcher Company out there, it really wasn’t a good idea to date Damian right now.

“You’re right. Of course, you are,” she chuckled. “And waiting until we meet for real will make it even more special.”

Damian nodded, glad he agreed with her.

“Alright,” she breathed. “We’ll wait.”

As if to reassure her that he did feel the same way she did, Damian gathered her in a hug so gentle, she could only smile against his shoulder.

It was really nice, Marinette thought, how Damian seemed to finally be at ease with her.

They had come a long way, she realized.

* * *

Marinette was worried about Adrien and what their friends and schoolmates would think now that everyone knew that Gabriel Agreste was the one behind the mask of Hawkmoth.

Ever since the battle, Marinette only got a few texts from Adrien, telling her that he was fine and had a lot to deal with, that he would see her in September at school and that he appreciated her concern.

She got up extra early on their first day back to school so she could catch him before anyone else.

And it was a good thing she did because Adrien was one of the first there. He smiled at her when he saw her and gave her a brief hug.

“How have you been,” she asked, her eyes showing her worry.

Adrien sighed, stroking the back of his neck in a nervous gesture.

“Fine, mostly. It was a shock, at first, to find out that my father was Hawkmoth, but after a while… It wasn’t that surprising. He was very isolated, never showing up at meals and never leaving the house. And… He never got over my mother’s… condition.”

Right. It must have been overwhelming for Adrien to find out that his mother was not dead but in a coma. That his father lied to him for years.

“But I’m okay, mostly. It’s probably going to take me a long time to get over it, but Master Fu visited the hospital and said that he can probably help my mother, so I have hope,” his smile was blinding. “And I’m not alone, you know? My aunt- ah, my mother’s twin sister, that is, came all the way from London to take care of me and to be with my mother. She’s been told that my mother was dead too, so it came to a shock to her that she wasn’t.”

Adrien explained to her then that his cousin, Félix Culpa, wasn’t here with his mother as he intended a prestigious school in the United States. He was happy that his aunt was here, she was a nice woman, he told her and she had lost her husband a few years back, so to find out that her sister might wake up one day was unhoped-for.

He became nervous at the end of his tirade.

“I… I didn’t contact anyone else ever since my father… I don’t know what they think of me…”

Marinette reached for his hand and squeezed it slightly, trying to reassure him.

“I’m sure it’s going to be okay, Adrien. Our friends love you. And they never liked your father. You shouldn’t worry about them.”

The former model smiled at her, but it was forced, she could tell.

She didn’t have the time to say anything else that Nino slammed into the blonde boy, crushing him in a hug.

“I’ve been so worried about you!”

Alya wasn’t far behind, talking a mile a minute, but her phone was away. Their other friends arrived then as if they had scheduled arrival. Each of them gave Adrien a hug, reassuring him that they didn’t think less of him because of his father, that they knew he didn’t have anything to do with the whole Hawkmoth business, and of course they were still his friends!

The smile Adrien gave them all was the most beautiful smile they had ever seen on him.

While Adrien was sad for his father, that he will never get to have a real relationship with him, it seemed that a weight was lifted off his shoulders.

Adrien Agreste will be fine. Marinette was sure of it.

* * *

It was in October that Master Fu found the two of them. His face looked grim, and Marinette knew exactly why he sought them out.

Unconsciously, her hands came to her earrings.

She knew it was time to take them off.

A look at Adrien’s grim face told her he knew it too.

“You were a very good team. Paris was lucky to have you both as its protectors.”

He was silent for a few minutes.

“Unfortunately, I can’t risk the Ladybug and Chat Noir Miraculous when there is no threat.”

Marinette nodded, she understood.

Tikki appeared in front of her, her big blue eyes wet with unshed tears.

“You are one of my best holder, Marinette. I was really happy to be at your sides every step of the way. You’ve grown so much and I’m proud of you. Don’t forget that.”

A tear escaped from Marinette’s eye.

“Thank you so much for everything, Tikki. You were my best friend.” She chuckled and winked at the Kwami. “Just don’t tell Alya, okay?”

Tikki laughed and floated to Marinette’s cheek, offering her a hug — as much of a hug as she could, with her small size.

A few steps away from her, Adrien was done saying goodbye to Plagg too.

“Well, that’s it, then. Goodbye, Tikki.”

“Goodbye, Marinette.”

And she took the earrings off, handing them to the old man.

The two Miraculous secured in his bag, Master Fu smiled at them.

“Thank you. Both of you. I sure hope you’ll visit me for a cup of tea from time to time.”

Marinette and Adrien smiled at him.

They would see their Kwami again.

* * *

A month later, Damian appeared in Paris. Marinette was warming up, laughing at her two friends — Lahiffe and Lê Chien, if he remembered correctly — who were holding a banner that said ‘Go, Marinette, go!’.

“What’s happening,” he asked her, curious.

Marinette turned around and smiled brightly at him. It was the kind of smile that made it really difficult for him to not break their agreement and kiss her here and now.

But he knew better than to do it.

Making sure that her two friends were in a conversation of their own, the teenage girl answered him in a whisper.

“You know how I take free running classes, right?” He nodded. “Well, my club got permission to use the rooftops of Paris for a very specific route. So, here we are.”

He knew that it was usually illegal to go on Paris’ rooftops — that is, except for Chat Noir and Ladybug — so it was nice that the City gave the club permission.

“Now that you’re here, are you going to watch me?” She asked, almost shyly.

He smirked at her.

“Of course, I’ve always wanted to see if you were any good at it.”

“Well, wish me luck then!”

“I’m sure you don’t need it.”

Just before the race on the rooftops began, Marinette’s bespectacled friend placed a GoPro camera on her. It was a very good idea, to film a race like this from a first-person point of view. He hoped he would get to see it, afterward.

Watching Marinette running on the rooftops was something else, he mused. She had a grace that she didn’t have even as Ladybug, and she was having so much fun, he could tell. She was laughing out loud with her friends from the club.

Each step she took was carefully studied beforehand. She didn’t trip once.

At the end of the race, she was sweaty and tired, but so happy. Her two friends were hugging her, even though she protested because she was covered in sweat, but they didn’t care.

As he watched from afar, he thought that they really shouldn’t have kissed that first time.

Because it was all he could think about as her eyes locked with his and she smiled at him.

* * *

Damian was walking Titus in the Garden of the Manor. It was cold and the ground was covered in snow. It made Titus happy, somehow, as he was playing in the snow by himself.

“There’s so much snow!” Marinette’s voice exclaimed as she appeared out of nowhere.

She smiled brightly as she fell in the snow, moving so she could make an angel shape.

“You’re so lucky, you’ll get a white Christmas!”

Damian smiled at the sight. It made him feel warm to see Marinette so excited about the snow and the Holiday.

“You’re spending the Holiday with your family, right?” He asked as he sat next to her. He winced as the snow made his bottom feel very cold.

She nodded. “Yeah. Christmas is a very busy day for the bakery, but we get together with my grandma and my grandpa, so it’s nice. And on the 26th, I’m meeting with my friends for a Secret Santa.”

She went on, talking about the friend she had to give a present to, but Damian wasn’t listening.

Once again, his mind was wandering to that kiss they shared back at the beginning of September, and how nice it was. How he wanted to do it again.

His gaze fell on her lips, and he unconsciously got closer to her.

“Are you even listening to me?” She asked while laughing.

“Not really.”

She didn’t seem offended.

“What are you thinking about?”

He took a deep breath then, releasing it after a few seconds, his breath visible in the cold air.

“I was thinking that…” His eyes fell on her lips again. “I want to kiss you.”

He heard her breath catch and felt her get closer.

“I wouldn’t mind.”

He swallowed with difficulty.

“But we said we would wait until… Until we meet to start a relationship.”

She chuckled.

“It’s almost Christmas. I think we can indulge in one kiss. Then, we can restrain until we meet.”

She got closer and closer until he could feel her breath on his lips.

“What do you say?”

He didn’t answer. His hand cupped her cheek, bringing her face closer to his, and he kissed her.

He had only kissed her once before, so he shouldn’t miss something he had done only once, and yet, as his lips finally met hers, he realized that he had missed kissing her.

Tentatively, he deepened the kiss, and she kissed back with as much enthusiasm.

He could have kissed her for hours if it weren’t for the voice interrupting them.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Damian broke the kiss as he recognized the voice of Jason. But when he turned around, his brother wasn’t alone. Grayson and Drake were with him, looking at him with barely concealed laughter.

The youngest Wayne felt himself blush with embarrassment. He knew what he looked like to his brothers. They couldn’t see Marinette, so it looked like he was kissing empty air to them.

He was gaping at them, not sure what he should say, but Grayson burst out laughing. Drake at least had enough self-preservation to not laugh.

“If you want to train, there are other ways, you know,” said Jason, smirking at him.

“Shut up!” He shouted, embarrassed.

Next to him, Marinette was shaking with silent laughter.

Traitor.

“I-” Dick laughed again, interrupting his sentence. “I sure hope Marinette’s here with you because- HA! Because it would be really weird.”

Gathering snow in a ball, Damian hid a rock in it before throwing it at his brothers.

This time, Marinette didn’t bother to hide her laughter.

* * *

Time passed quickly after that. Marinette was buried in work by their professors as exams began at the end of the year.

It made her feel very anxious, and she missed Tikki even more in those moments, as the Kwami would reassure her.

Maybe she should go to Master Fu’s again soon. He said he wanted to start training her to be the next guardian soon, anyway.

But now it was April, and the exams were only two months away, so maybe she will have to wait a little before paying a visit.

The exams weren’t the only thing that made her anxious, though.

The Soulmate Searcher Company made itself known again.

A popular French girl on Instagram who has been open about having a soulmate recently disappeared. It was all over the news, and it was all her classmates would talk about lately.

There wasn’t any proof that it was the work of the company, but everyone knew, somehow.

That’s what her classmates were talking about now. Some were glancing at her, obviously worried about her, but she only smiled, faking confidence when she wasn’t feeling it at all.

“I don’t understand their deal,” said Alya loudly, arms crossed. “So what if the soulmate thing is not understandable? It doesn’t mean that you can just kidnap people and make experiments on them! They’re still human!”

Her classmates agreed with her.

“It’s just horrible! They’re treating them like laboratory rats,” exclaimed Rose. “People with soulmates are just normal people!”

“I don’t know,” said Lila, her voice silencing everyone else’s. “I mean, it is weird that someone can appear somewhere else across the world like a ghost. What proof is there that those people even exist? Maybe those who claim they have a soulmate are just seeing things. They’re freaks if you ask me.”

Marinette could see Alya’s face become red with anger. Nino put a hand on his girlfriend’s shoulder, trying to calm her down, but Marinette knew it wouldn’t be enough.

She stood up, about to say something so Alya wouldn’t say what she was sure she was about to say, but she was too late.

“What the hell are you saying?! Marinette isn’t a freak!”

“Alya!” Nino yelled, horrified.

Alya’s hands came over her mouth, surprised at her own outburst.

Marinette couldn’t find it in her to be mad at her best friend. She didn’t mean to out her secret like that, and she was only defending her best friend from Lila.

But Lila was the worst person to tell her secret to.

She swore she saw Lila smirk at the news, but it was gone as soon as it appeared.

The liar gasped, but it sounded so fake that it made Marinette sick.

“That’s not what I meant at all. Of course, Marinette isn’t a freak. I’m sure that the person she sees exists somewhere.”

It was the wrong thing to say because everyone glared at Lila. She shrank on herself, uncomfortable with the glares, and wisely didn’t say anything else.

The whole class was silent after that, waiting for the professor to arrive, but Marinette couldn’t forget the smirk on Lila’s face. She looked like the cat who got the cream.

One of the only people that Marinette didn’t want to know about her soulmate now knew and something told her that it wouldn’t end well.

Lila tried to kill Ladybug more than once. The girl obviously loved to cause chaos and to ruin people’s lives, and something told her that it was exactly what she was going to do now that she had this knowledge.

A feeling of dread settled in her stomach. Damian appeared next to her, obviously worried, but before he had time to say something, she shook her head, mouthing the word ‘later’ to him.

He nodded and disappeared right away.

She wasn’t looking forward to having that conversation with him.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year everyone! 
> 
> Thank you all for your comments! Here is the first chapter of 2021! Let's hope it's a better year... 
> 
> **TW: Violence, Suffocation (as in, to make someone talk)**

Marinette was pacing in her room, seconds away from pulling her hair out. She had caught herself several times already from turning and complain to Tikki, only to remember that her dear friend wasn’t by her side anymore.

It was in a crisis like this one that Marinette missed Tikki more than she already did.

Lila knew about her soulmate bond. It wasn’t good. It wasn’t good at all. For some reason, Lila Rossi hated Marinette as much as she hated Ladybug.

It was probably because of Damian, she thought. Lila hated being called out as a liar, hated when things didn’t go her way, and her soulmate didn’t hesitate at all when he took over her body to put her in her place.

As much as she was mortified by this event and almost got in trouble with Alya because of it, she found it satisfying. Because of it, her classmates didn’t fall for her lies any longer, so it ended up being a good thing.

But now, with the Italian girl being as dangerous as she was and how she could hold a grudge for a long time… Something told Marinette that it was time for her to face the consequences of Lila’s bruised ego.

What would happen to her if the green-eyed girl decided to sell her to the Soulmate Searcher Company? She didn’t put it above Lila to do that, it would mean that she would get to get rid of her and gain money from it.

“What happened?”

Marinette almost jumped, startled by the voice. She hadn’t sensed Damian at all.

The youngest Wayne frowned, rolling his shoulders as if feeling uncomfortable.

“I can feel your anxiety. I don’t think you’ve ever been this nervous ever since we’ve met. Tell me what’s wrong.”

After more than two years of knowing Damian, Marinette knew to recognize a demand from him. She knew that she didn’t have a choice but to tell him what was going on. Not that she didn’t want to tell him, but her soulmate didn’t like Lila already, she didn’t know what he would do. He already wanted to kill the liar for killing her months ago, what could stop him now?

It was a good thing that he was an ocean away, to be honest.

Marinette sighed and sat on the floor, gesturing to Damian to do the same.

As soon as he was comfortable, she started talking.

“Alya messed up. Before you go into a raging mode, I’m not mad at her, okay? She was just trying to defend me and my honor or something like that, and it slipped,” she sighed.

“What did she do?” He asked in a harsh voice.

“The class was talking about this Instagram star who disappeared. They were known for having a soulmate, they didn’t hide it,” at Damian’s raised eyebrow, she continued. “It was before the whole Soulmate company. After the rumors, they stopped talking about it but it was too late. Anyway, they disappeared and it fuelled the rumors. There’s no evidence, but we all think it’s the doing of that company.”

Marinette stopped for a moment, wondering how she should address the real problem. She decided to not beat around the bush.

“Lila was telling that she understood where the Company was coming from and how she thought that people with soulmates were freaks. It pissed Alya off and she yelled at Lila how I wasn’t a freak. So, now, she knows.”

Damian was silent after her explanation. She could see the rage in his eyes. At who, exactly, she didn’t know. Probably at both Alya and Lila, but she knew he wouldn’t say anything about the reporter. She wouldn’t let him.

He seemed deep in his thoughts so she let him be, looking everywhere but at him.

It was after what seemed hours later — but it was probably only ten minutes — that he spoke up.

“That’s not good. Lila hates you,” he whispered, as if afraid to say the words louder.

The fashion designer nodded, already knowing that.

Suddenly, Damian stood up and took her hand in his, forcing her to stand up too.

“Look, we both know that that girl won’t keep the information for herself. She’s going to rat you out to that fucking company,” Marinette flinched as he cursed, not used to hear him use that kind of word, “so here is what you’re going to do: pack a bag with everything you need to get out of here as fast as you can. Take cash out of your account every day. I know there’s a limit of what you can take out, so you’re going to take as much as you can every day until your account is empty. You’ll need the money if you have to run away.”

Marinette opened her mouth to protest but the green-eyed boy interrupted her.

“They will come for you, Marinette,” he breathed, cupping her cheeks to make her look at him in the eyes. “You can’t deny it. They’ll come for you, and you’ll need to run away as fast as possible when the day comes.”

She nodded.

“You’ll have to leave your phone behind too so they can’t track you.”

As if sensing how scared she was, Damian took her in his arms, rubbing circles on her back.

“It’s going to be alright. I promise. I’ll tell you where to go. Running away is one thing, but you need a destination. Once you’re safe from them, I’m going to find you.”

She nodded against his chest, letting herself calm down thanks to his warmth.

Everything was going to be fine, right?

* * *

It was the next day, as Marinette was at a cash machine, taking out as much money as was allowed, that Alya found her.

Her best friend was looking at her, waiting for her to be done with her task.

She looked on the verge of crying.

As soon as she was done, Marinette walked to her and didn’t wait to take her in her arms.

“I’m not mad at you. I know that you were just trying to protect you,” she whispered to the journalist. “You’re a good friend.”

At her words, Alya burst into tears, tightening her hold on the shorter girl.

“That’s not true! I promised to keep your secret and I told Lila! I’m so sorry Marinette! I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you. You were right about her.”

“It’s okay, you didn’t know.”

“But you told me! I should have listened,” she cried.

Marinette let Alya cried in her arms, waiting patiently until she didn’t have any tears in her anymore.

The Ladyblogger sniffed. “She’s… She’s not going to tell anyone, right?”

The reporter’s best friend didn’t have the heart to tell Alya that yes, Lila was probably going to rat her out and enjoy the money she’ll get out of her good deed.

Instead, she said, “I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me.”

The truth was, Marinette was worried sick since the day before. Damian and her set up a plan, so she knew exactly what she should do and where she should go the day weird men would show up asking for her.

But Marinette didn’t have Tikki with her anymore. She wasn’t Ladybug anymore, so she couldn’t run away as easily.

She had thought of going to Master Fu’s to ask for Tikki or Kaalki, but thought better of it. She couldn’t keep a Miraculous with her as she wouldn’t be able to give it back to Master Fu.

Marinette took Alya’s hand and squeezed it, offering her best friend a smile.

“I was thinking of studying for the exams, would you like to join me?”

Alya nodded, smiling brightly at her friend.

“I would love to.”

As the two friends made their way to the Dupain-Cheng bakery, Marinette couldn’t help but wonder if she would even get to take her exams.

* * *

Three weeks and a half after the ‘Lila incident’ as Marinette referred it to, everything was calm. Her bank account was almost empty now, as she took cash out of it every day and the cash was tucked safely in a bag, where everything she needed was ready.

For the moment, nothing was out of the ordinary. Every time she left the house, she would make sure to observe her surroundings, making sure that no strange men and women were around. None of her friends were talking to people she didn’t know either, so she guessed she was safe for now.

She had this hope that, maybe, Lila wouldn’t contact the soulmate company. That maybe her hatred was focused on Ladybug and not on Marinette.

She and Damian have been on edge for more than three weeks now. He would visit her every day to make sure that she was okay, to ask her if she noticed anything out of the ordinary.

He was on edge too and she felt bad for putting him in this situation.

When she apologized for that, he brushed her off, telling her that he was Robin and lived in Gotham. It was nothing new for him.

He told her that he was worried about her, though. He didn’t want her to be hurt.

It made her feel all warm inside to see how much he cared about her.

But being on edge like that, waiting for something to happen, made her tired.

So tired that she stayed at home most of the time, only going out to go to the cash machine and to go to school.

Her parents were worried, and she knew that she should tell them about what was going on, but she couldn’t make herself tell them.

Knowing that she won’t be seeing her parents anymore should she have to run away was painful. So she didn’t want to make them worry. She just wanted to spend time with them and be happy.

However, two of her friends didn’t agree with her staying at home outside of school.

On a Saturday morning, Kim and Nino entered her room with a bang, waking her up in a panic state. She had thought that it was the soulmate company, but the bright smiles on her two childhood friends calmed her down immediately.

“Wake up, DC! We’re hiking today!” Shouted Kim as he threw clothes at her.

“Be downstairs in five minutes!”

Marinette groaned, looking at the time. Who got up at eight in the morning on a Saturday?!

Nonetheless, Marinette was downstairs five minutes later, her mother handing her a water bottle and a bag, telling her to have fun with her friends.

An hour later, they were in a forest, talking like they haven’t seen each other in months, even though they saw each other every day.

Marinette was glad for this impromptu outing, as she had not laughed that much in weeks.

It felt good to spend time with her friends.

* * *

Again, almost four weeks passed without anything happening. Four weeks that lulled her and Damian into a feeling of safety.

That’s why when at eight in the evening on a Thursday night, the knocking at the door took her by surprise.

She was in her room doing her homework when she heard it. Curious, she listened as her father opened the door and greeted the men visiting them. She listened as the men told her father that they had questions to ask his daughter.

Marinette froze. It was them.

She heard her parents protest as the men entered their home without their authorization.

Panicking, Marinette looked around her room. She grabbed the hoodie from her bed, thinking it would help to conceal her a little bit. She grabbed her bag and took a last look around in her room. Her phone was on her desk and would stay there.

She wished she could have time to say goodbye to her parents, wished she had more time with them.

With tears in her eyes, Marinette got to her balcony and escaped through the Paris rooftops just in time to hear the men enter her bedroom.

As she escaped, the blue-eyed girl was glad that she took free running classes, as it was the best way to escape without being seen.

Once out of Paris, she would visit Damian to tell him that it was time.

Then, once she was out of the city, she would take the bus to Calais. From there, she would take the Eurostar to London, where Damian and his father would join her, taking her with them to Gotham. Damian had talked to his family about her situation and they wanted to help.

Not the safest city in the world, but at least, she would be with Damian.

It wasn’t how she thought she would meet her soulmate for real.

* * *

Getting out of the city took longer than she thought it would, as she stuck to the rooftops.

On the ground, the path was more direct and less exhausting.

It was midnight now and exhausted as she was, Marinette decided to stop at a hotel for the night. She would leave at five in the morning.

The blue-eyed girl paid for the room in cash and didn’t waste time to get in bed. She didn’t change nor did she take her shoes off, in case she had to leave as fast as possible.

Before finding sleep, though, she had to contact Damian.

A few seconds later, she appeared besides Damian. He was still in school, she noticed. It was unusual for him to get out of class after five in the afternoon, and yet it was already six.

As if knowing what she was thinking, Damian spoke up.

“We have a teacher-parent meeting tonight. Grayson won’t be here until our meeting at eight as I’m one of the very last, but I thought I would get my homework done in the meanwhile,” he frowned then, as he observed her. “Is something wrong?” He asked more alert.

Marinette bit her lip nervously before answering.

“The SSC showed up at my house a few hours ago. I escaped through the rooftops and only made it out of the city. I stopped at a hotel to rest and I’ll leave at around five in the morning.” As Damian opened his mouth, Marinette continued. “Don’t worry, I checked. They weren’t around.”

The youngest Wayne took her hand in his, squeezing it. “Be careful,” she nodded at him, “we’ll leave for London as soon as we go back home.”

“Okay,” she breathed. “I hope your meeting will go well.”

Damian scoffed. “Don’t worry over trivial matters. Worry about yourself.”

The dark-haired girl smiled at him and kissed his cheek.

“I’ll go to sleep, then.”

Damian nodded. “Rest well.”

As soon as she was back in her room, Marinette closed her eyes and fell asleep.

* * *

Marinette woke up two hours later, still exhausted and having no idea what woke her up in the first place.

Groggy, she didn’t notice the three men in her room until it was too late.

Someone harshly took her by her arms and pulled her out of bed. Marinette tried to struggle but the man holding her was much bigger and stronger than her.

“You sure know how to escape, brat,” said a voice in front of her.

The man was scary, as cliché as it sounded for a mercenary. He was holding a plastic bag in his hand, and Marinette’s blood froze. She didn’t like it. She didn’t like it at all.

Panicking, she tried to escape the strong grip on her arms, but the third man in the room slapped her with enough force to make her see stars.

“Now, don’t try anything you would regret later,” the man with the plastic bag in his hand said. He roughly pulled her out of her captor’s grip and slammed her on the only table in the small hotel room.

One of the men forced her to stay face down on the table and took both her hands in his, preventing her to move.

“Now,” the scary man said, “how about you tell me about your soulmate?” He asked in a sickly sweet voice.

So one half of a pair of soulmates wasn’t enough for them. They wanted Damian too.

Too bad for them, she was too stubborn and protective of her soulmate.

“Never,” she spat.

The mercenary sighed.

“I guess I’ll just have to convince you, then.”

He disappeared behind her, and suddenly, the bag was on her face.

She couldn’t breathe at all.

* * *

It was 8:30 pm when the meeting with his professor was over.

Damian couldn’t get out of the classroom faster. His brother was shouting for him to wait and the youngest brother reluctantly stopped.

Allegra Williams was waiting for her turn with her father. Damian nodded at her in greetings.

“What’s wrong,” asked Dick as he caught up with his younger brother.

“We need to get to London, now,” Damian whispered.

Richard’s eyes widened, his hand unconsciously coming to his mouth.

“Oh, shit, it’s happening.”

“Yes, so hurry up, would you?”

Before Damian could even take a step to leave, his lungs suddenly couldn’t take any more air.

He choked on nothing, not able to breathe. He couldn’t help the panic that was seizing him, knowing that whatever was happening was happening to Marinette.

He heard Dick’s and William’s — Allegra — worry voice as he struggled to breathe, but he couldn’t focus on them.

He kept switching between his body and Marinette’s.

He could feel the plastic bag on his face and the hands restraining him from moving.

The second after, it was Dick’s hand on his back that he could feel.

The second after that, he was back in Marinette’s body. But this time, he moved.

This time, with the switching every second, both Marinette and his body moved.

He struggled against the grip, managing to elbow the person restraining him.

Once free, he punched the one holding the bag and didn’t waste time in taking it from his face, taking deep breaths.

After that, now that he was settled in Marinette’s body, he moved as he did when he was Robin.

The men didn’t stand a chance against him.

Taking Marinette’s bag, he left the hotel room and didn’t stop running until he was sure it was safe for his soulmate.

Reluctantly, he gave Marinette her body back.

Back in his body in Gotham, Damian felt as his brother was hugging him from behind, breathing heavily. The youngest Wayne felt bad for his brother who had obviously tried to restrain him as he tried to help Marinette.

Allegra Williams, her father, and their professor were looking at him, worried.

Fortunately, Williams and the professor knew about him having a soulmate — and he guessed that now, Allegra’s father knew too — so they wouldn’t think that he was losing in his mind.

“Are you okay now,” came Grayson’s frantic voice. “What about Marinette? She couldn’t breathe and wouldn’t say anything even after… What’s happening?”

Damian took a deep breath, appreciating how nice it felt after being deprived of functioning lungs.

“What is happening is we need to get her, now,” he said in a harsh voice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, let's talk about why Gabriel Agreste protected Lila.
> 
> A little bit before he got defeated, he got suspicious of Marinette being Ladybug. He thought that even in prison, Lila could do something about Marinette and get her Miraculous or something. 
> 
> Unfortunately, Marinette had to give back her Miraculous.
> 
> But, Lila wanted to get rid of Ladybug no matter what, so here we are.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for your comments!
> 
> Here is the chapter :)

_“Are you okay now,” came Grayson’s frantic voice. “What about Marinette? She couldn’t breathe and wouldn’t say anything even after… What’s happening?”_

_Damian took a deep breath, appreciating how nice it felt after being deprived of functioning lungs._

_“What is happening is we need to get her, now,” he said in a harsh voice._

* * *

After Damian managed to get away for her, Marinette didn’t waste any time and ran as fast as she could. She would look behind her every five seconds to make sure that no one was following her, but her soulmate seemed to have done a good job in taking her assailants out.

Still, Marinette didn’t stop running. Now that she couldn’t even rest for the night, she figured that she should go to the closest bus station and see if she was lucky enough to get a night bus for Calais.

It’s when she took a break from running — after checking that she hasn’t been followed — to drink water that Damian appeared beside her.

“Are you alright,” he asked, his voice filled with worry.

She nodded. “I’m just tired. I wish I could have slept a little bit more. My wrist hurt too.”

She looked at her wrist, where a bluish-purple bruise in a hand shape had appeared in the last or so hour she’s been running.

Damian gently took her wrist in his hands, stroking them with care as he pursed his lips.

“It’s not your fault,” she said as she saw the look in his eyes. “You helped me a great deal back there. I don’t think I could have gotten away without you. Thank you.”

He nodded and gulped as if he couldn’t get a word out.

“What’s your plan, now?”

“I’m going to the next bus station and I’ll take a night bus for Calais if there is one. It should be a three hours ride. Then, if I’m lucky enough, I can board a train for London… If there isn’t a train departing when I get there… I’ll just have to figure out where to hide until then. Maybe I still have some lingering luck from Tikki, who knows?”

Once more, Damian pursed his lips. She knew he didn’t like how much of her plan relied on luck, but they didn’t have a choice. It’s not like they could have planned this escape to the T.

Logically, she knew she could have left Paris the moment Lila has been informed of her secret. But she couldn’t get herself to do it. She still had this naive hope that none of this would happen. She couldn’t get herself to leave her family, her friends, her whole life behind without something major happening.

Now, though, Marinette couldn’t help but think that she should have left earlier anyway.

“I’m sorry,” she breathed. “I shouldn’t have waited for this to happen to leave.”

Damian shook his head.

“I get why you didn’t. And as much as this situation is not ideal, at least, everyone will know that the SSC is involved. Had you disappeared earlier, they would not have been suspected.”

“And yet, nothing is done against them,” the blue-eyed girl sighed.

Marinette put her water bottle back in her bag and started walking again, not wanting to stay at the same place for too long.

Damian naturally followed.

“The plane is getting ready as we speak. We should be able to leave in less than half an hour. We’ll be in London in seven hours.”

“If I’m lucky, I should be in London in around seven hours too. You might get there before me, though,” she said, her breath irregular.

She was exhausted.

“Whoever gets there first, we’ll meet at the Blue Orchid. I’ll let you know the room number if we get there first. Take a room under my name if you get there before us.”

A nice bed in a nice hotel room sounded so nice right now.

“Okay,” she agreed and started to walk faster.

Despite her pace, Damian managed to kiss her forehead.

“Stay safe. Reach out to me if something happens.”

“I’ll see you.”

He disappeared and Marinette was alone once more.

The designer looked around, and seeing as she was alone in the street, started running once again.

The sooner she got there, the better.

* * *

It seemed that Marinette did have some lingering luck from Tikki.

When she arrived at the bus station, a bus was ready to go to Calais just five minutes after her arrival, and there were some tickets left.

It really was lucky, as the former Ladybug avoided taking the straight route to the bus station, so she could lose her potential tail.

It meant that she took longer than she would have liked to get there, but now she was on the bus, safe.

Or at least, she hoped she was safe. There were few people on the bus. A businessman, a family of four, and three young people with a heavy backpack.

They didn’t seem suspicious but you never know.

The bus ride took three hours and fifteen minutes, and Marinette had to fight every second of it to not fall asleep.

Her luck didn’t fade, it seemed, as a train for London would leave in twenty minutes. The ticket was really expensive, and Marinette was never so glad that she emptied her bank account in the last month.

It also seemed that she had lost her tail back in Paris, so the fashion designer allowed herself to take a break and order food at the train station while waiting for the train to arrive.

She thought for a moment that running away from her followers had been too easy, but she shook her head. Nothing had been easy. Her attackers almost got her back in the hotel — the bruises on her wrists were still hurting and proof enough that they almost got her.

And thinking about it, for what seemed like a frail girl like her, three people were more than enough to send after her. By the time the men woke up in the hotel room, they would have lost her. By the time they reported to their boss, she would have been long gone from Paris.

So, yeah, it made sense. She was safe, for now.

But Marinette would only feel safe once she would have found Damian.

The twenty minutes of respite flew by, and Marinette was comfortably seated in the train.

She watched with a twinge as she left her dear home behind, not knowing when she would be able to go back.

With tears filling her eyes, Marinette said goodbye to France.

* * *

Ever since they found out that Damian had a soulmate, Dick Grayson had been grateful for Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

The changes in his little brother had been subtle at first, so much so that you wouldn’t have noticed them. But Richard cared about Damian, so he knew what to look for.

It took the girl time to get Damian to trust her, but she did it eventually, and that’s when Damian really started to change.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng became one of the very few people Damian Wayne cared about. She would accidentally take over his body sometimes, and he and his brothers would get to know a little bit more about her.

Damian never told them about her, so they didn’t know much, only that she was a very nice and positive girl.

Marinette even managed to befriend some of Damian’s classmates while in his body, and Dick would have paid money to see that. While the youngest Wayne still wasn’t what one would call friendly with his classmates, he was a bit closer to them.

Just slightly, but it was still a step in the right direction in Dick’s book.

Even though the oldest of the Wayne siblings knew that Damian and Marinette saw each other often through their bond, he couldn’t wait for them to meet in person.

But not like that.

Dick wished that their reunion would be something they had planned. Something like one of them inviting the other to spend the holiday with them. Something light and happy, with their family looking forward to meeting the soulmate.

Damian had told them about the Soulmate Searcher Company. He told them about this Lila girl who, for some reason, had it out for Marinette and wasn’t above throwing her to the wolves.

But, like the young woman, Dick had hoped that maybe, just maybe, Damian was giving too much credit to Lila. After all, she was just a teenage girl, right?

It’s only when Damian told them that his soulmate had escaped from her home that Richard remembered that Lila was dangerous. Truly dangerous. She was the one who killed Marinette, after all.

But Dick had naively thought that now that the Italian girl didn’t have the power that Hawkmoth could give her, she couldn’t do anything anymore.

He had never been so wrong before.

So when Damian collapsed, unable to breathe after their teacher-parent meeting, he had been scared.

Scared for his brother and what would happen to him if Marinette were to die and stay dead, as there was no Miraculous Ladybug cure anymore.

Scared for Marinette, a teenage girl who didn’t ask for anything and had to run away from her home. A teenage girl, who had to leave her family and friends behind, with only the promise that her soulmate and his family that she barely knew would take care of her.

It made Dick angry. Why couldn’t children just be children?

After what happened in the school’s corridors, Richard insisted to go with Damian and Bruce to London. There was no way he could stay put in Gotham when he witnessed what happened.

It’s only when they were on the plane that his little brother told them what happened when he kept switching between his and Marinette’s body.

Apparently, the mercenaries weren’t above torturing children to get the other half of a soulmate pair.

Needless to say, both he and Bruce were disgusted.

The journey was mostly silent, as they were all a ball of nerves. Sometimes, they would hear Damian talk to himself, probably communicating with Marinette.

From what he could hear, Marinette had made it safely to Calais and was now in the train on direction to London.

Good.

Still, Damian was really tense, Dick could tell.

Wordlessly, the eldest brother sat next to the youngest and put an arm around his shoulder, and brought him closer to him.

The green-eyed boy tensed at first, but relaxed after a minute or two, going as far as leaning into him.

“She’s going to be okay,” Dick said.

Damian nodded, his eyes not leaving the window.

They couldn’t get to London soon enough.

* * *

When Marinette got out of the train, she could barely stand on her legs. She thought that she had enough time to rest on the train, as she has been sitting for more than three hours, but it seemed that she still was too exhausted.

Still, she forced herself to move. As much as she wanted to find a place to crash and stay there, she had to get to the hotel.

She asked a few people in the streets for directions, and one of them was kind enough to draw her a map.

When she was halfway there, Damian appeared beside her.

He frowned at her, and she couldn’t blame him. She must look horrible.

He looked around him and gave her a small smile, trying to be reassuring.

“You look exhausted,” he said and she snorted. “Stay here. I’ll come to you.”

He didn’t let her answer and he disappeared once again.

But Marinette listened. She stayed here, in the middle of a busy street, her heart pounding in her chest.

Damian was coming.

And not five minutes later, she could see him among the sea of people, running toward her.

As she saw him — for real, not as an apparition — everything Marinette as been burying in her came back to the surface.

Becoming Ladybug, lying to everyone, moving on from Adrien, meeting Damian, Lila coming back, Lila killing her, Chat Noir being Adrien, Hawkmoth being defeated, leaving her home…

She burst into tears as Damian reached her and jumped in his arms.

He didn’t seem surprised and he caught her with ease, burying his face in her hair.

They had thought that they were used to touching each other by now.

They were wrong.

Touching each other for real was so much more intense than through their bond. They had never noticed how different it was before.

Marinette cried and cried in Damian’s arms, letting herself be carried to their hotel as she couldn’t take another step.

They didn’t have the strength to talk right now. But they would have time for that later.

She fell asleep in her soulmate’s arms.

And this time, even though she was unconscious, he stayed.

And he wasn’t leaving.

* * *

When Damian left the hotel room without a word to them, Dick knew that he was going to find Marinette.

As much as he wanted to witness their reunion and to see for himself if Marinette was okay, he knew that it was something that should stay between the two of them. So he stayed in the room with Bruce, waiting for his brother to come back with his soulmate.

He wasn’t ready for how vulnerable his brother looked when he got back.

Damian came back to the room with Marinette in his arms, fast asleep. She had tears still rolling down her face and his brother himself looked close to tears too.

He didn’t say anything to them as he put Marinette on the bed and lay down next to her, staying so close to her that he was almost on top of her.

Not that he could blame him.

Silently, Dick took a blanket and put it on them. Damian nodded at him and Dick nodded in return.

His little brother fell asleep not long after that, and Richard looked at Bruce, both agreeing silently to leave the room.

Now, they had a lot to do to protect Marinette.

Bruce called Tim to let him know that they had successfully found Marinette and they would come back to Gotham the next day.

Right now, the two teenagers needed to rest.

* * *

Things were tense in class.

The evening before, Alya had received a call from Tom and Sabine.

Men from the Soulmate Searcher Company came to their home and asked for Marinette.

Fortunately, her best friend had time to escape, but her parents had no idea where she was.

So they had called Alya, hoping that she would know where the fashion designer was, and could, maybe, help her hide somewhere for a few days before her parents can find her again and decided what to do.

But the reporter didn’t know where the blue-eyed girl was.

And it was a good thing too. Not even an hour later, the same men that barged into the Dupain-Cheng household came knocking at her door looking for the teenage girl.

When they finally left after making sure her family wasn’t hiding the girl they were looking for, she called Marinette’s cellphone, only to have Sabine answer it.

The baker’s daughter had left her phone behind and no one could contact her.

All night, she received calls from her friends. The men apparently knocked at every of Marinette’s friends’ doors, looking for her.

But no one knew where she was.

Alya even made a post on her blog for Marinette before feeling stupid about it. It’s not like her friend was going to answer her when she was researched by a company that had a reputation for kidnapping people.

The fact that this company was so open in its search of Marinette only confirmed Césaire’s theory that the Government was actually backing the company up.

She didn’t sleep that night, but she wasn’t tired the next day at school.

Everyone seemed on alert. The atmosphere was heavy with worry, and Alya couldn’t look at the empty seat next to her.

She would never see Marinette again, wouldn’t she?

Tears gathered in her eyes at the thought.

Marinette didn’t deserve any of this.

Madame Bustier tried to teach the class, but no one was listening.

In front of her, Adrien was angry. He had snapped a few pens in half already, and he always looked like he was seconds away from screaming.

It was after the lunch break that Alya lost it, though.

Lila entered the classroom, apologizing for missing the morning classes.

The journalist hadn’t even noticed that she wasn’t there. But everything clicked when she saw the girl.

It was her fault, wasn’t it? Nothing happened to Marinette, and a month or so after Lila Rossi found out about the designer’s secret, the SSC came for her.

Of course, it was her fault!

“You bitch!” The bespectacled girl screamed at her former friend before throwing herself at her.

They both ended up on the floor, Alya on top of Lila. The Ladyblogger took advantage of the confusion to punch the girl in the face once, twice, three times before Madame Bustier pulled her away from the Italian girl.

She was bleeding from the nose, and Marinette’s best friend felt smug at the sight.

“Alya, what’s wrong with-”

Alya didn’t let her teacher finish her sentence as she tried to get herself out of the older woman’s grip.

“It’s your fault that Marinette’s gone isn’t it?! You’re such a bitch that you would sell a girl you don’t like to the SSC just to get rid of her, wouldn’t you?!”

“Alya! That’s a very grave accusation! You can’t say things like that,” Caline scolded.

“But it’s true!” The reporter yelled. “Everyone but she knew about Marinette’s soulmate, and nothing happened. She’s known for a month, and now Marinette has been chased out of home! Don’t tell me it’s a coincidence, you stupid woman!”

Before Caline could reprimand Alya for the way she addressed her teacher, Adrien spoke up.

“It’s true. Lila has always had it for Marinette since the beginning. She was always getting in the way of Ladybug and Chat Noir, I wouldn’t be surprised that she ratted Marinette out.”

Lila gasped. “I only got in the heroes’ way when I was akumatized! You can’t hold something I did while possessed against me!”

“Oh, save it!” Nino yelled. He was crying too, Alya noticed. “No one here believes you.”

Lila watched the hateful stares around her and frowned. She looked like she was about to say something, but then, she stood up quickly and ran away.

“Come back here you scum, so I can kill you,” the journalist screeched as she tried to break Caline’s grip on her.

All she managed to do, though, was to elbow the woman in the face.

But by the time that Alya was out of the room, Adrien, Nino, and Kim behind her, Lila was long gone.

Alya’s scream was heard by everyone in the school.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for your comment! 
> 
> Marinette is safe now, don't worry :)

Damian woke up at seven in the evening, when the sun was still setting. Marinette was still asleep next to him and his father and brother were nowhere to be seen.

The youngest Wayne took the time to look at his soulmate while she was sleeping. He still couldn’t believe that she was here with him. That he could see her peacefully sleep and still be here. He wished they could have met under better circumstances, but at least he was there for her. At least, she wasn’t alone.

Softly, he pushed a strand of hair away from her face. She got closer to himin response, seeking his warmth.

He could get used to this.

He stayed like this for an hour, unwilling to wake her up after everything she went through. She deserved the peace that she could only find while asleep. So he kept dozing off.

Her eyes fluttered open and she groaned, upset that she had to wake up.

“Hey,” he breathed to her in greetings.

He felt her freeze against him. He watched as she nervously looked up and relaxed when she realized that it was him. She relaxed instantly and wrapped her arms around him, burrowing her head in his chest.

He hugged her back, his hold tight as if he was afraid that she would disappear.

A little part of him believed that the moment he let her go, she would evaporate, so he decided that he wouldn’t release her until she was the one initiating it.

“You’re really here,” he heard her say, her voice barely louder than a whisper. “I thought for a second that I dreamed it all.”

His hold on her tightened a little bit at her words. He feared for a second that he was hurting her, but she didn’t complain. Still, he forced himself to relax.

“I’m here and I’m not going anywhere.”

He kissed her forehead and she gave him a smile. But it wasn’t her usual smiles, those that could blind him from their brightness. Her smile was sad.Of course, it was. Marinette had to leave her family and her whole life behind.

Damian swore to himself that he would do everything he could to make her happy.

“Thank you,” she said, and she kissed his jaw.

It was always in those little moments of affection that Damian realized that he was always starving for her touch.

They had touched, through their bond. They had kissed, even. But nothing they did through their bond could compare to the real thing.

Her hands found his face and stroke it gently.

“Thank you for finding me.”

The young Wayne closed his eyes, enjoying her touch.

“Always.”

* * *

Richard and Bruce didn’t come back to the hotel room until eight in the evening after Damian sent them a text stating that both he and Marinette were awake.

They came in with food, as it was too dangerous for Marinette to be seen outside. They would have to discuss everything when they get to Gotham, where she would be safe with the Wayne family.

When Dick entered the room and saw his little brother’s soulmate awake, the smile that appeared on his face was enough to light up the room and make Damian’s soulmate relax.

“Hello, Marinette,” he said as he put the bags on the table in the room. “It’s nice to finally meet you properly.”

The _even though I wish it was under better circumstances_ was left unsaid but heard clearly.

The blue-eyed girl nodded and gave them a small smile.

“It’s nice to meet you, too. I’m sorry that you had to come all the way here for me…”

Bruce frowned at those words.

“There is no need to apologize, Marinette,” he said in a hard voice that made the girl flinch.

It didn’t go unnoticed by anyone in the room, so Bruce tried to talk to her in a softer voice.

“We’re here because we want to be here. We wanted to help you, and none of this is your fault, so don’t blame yourself, alright?”

He awkwardly patted her head to comfort her, making Dick bark a laugh before putting his hands before his mouth to hide his laughter.

Marinette nodded.

“Good. Now that it’s settled, are you hungry,” asked Damian’s father.

Damian tugged Marinette’s hand, inviting her to stand and she followed willingly.

“I’m famished,” she answered.

“Good, we have plenty of food!” Exclaimed Richard.

“We’ll spend the night here and we will leave early tomorrow morning, is that alright with you?”

Bruce looked at Marinette as her face hardened. She nodded.

“The sooner I’m out of here, the better.”

The CEO of Wayne Enterprises nodded.

“I thought so,” he said and with a small smile, handed her her food.

* * *

Marinette had been in Gotham for a week, now, and everyone has been very welcoming of her.

Alfred had a room ready for her when they arrived and the dark-haired girl was embarrassed to say that when she got in, she immediately fell asleep on the bed, exhausted.

No one blamed her the next day, and she was properly introduced.

Damian stayed with her the whole week. He also introduced her to his pets, and it made her really happy that she could finally pet them instead of just watching them.

She got to know his brothers a little too, and it amused her how different they all were.

At the end of the week, though, Bruce told Damian that he still had his school year to finish. He didn’t want to go and leave Marinette alone in the manor, but she convinced him to go. She knew he was very smart and probably knew everything, but he still had to go.

That’s when her soulmate was at school that she had a conversation with Bruce and Richard.

“How are you accustoming here, Marinette,” asked Bruce as he took a seat in front of her and Richard sat next to him.

The dark-haired girl smiled at them, her smile a little less sad.

“Good, I think. Everyone here is so nice. I still didn’t get to visit the city to really get accustomed to it, though.”

Bruce cleared his throat.

“Yes, about that. We know that we can’t keep you hidden here. You have to finish school, for one, and while you could be homeschool, it wouldn’t be a good life, staying hidden from everyone.”

Marinette nodded at that.

“We don’t know if the SSC will search for you outside of France or not, but we better be careful and assume they will. I… I know it will be hard for you, but it’s probably better that you change your last name.”

She figured.

“What name would that be,” she asked.

It was Dick who answered her.

“I was thinking about lending you my name, actually. What do you think?”

Marinette Grayson.

Yeah, she liked it.

“I would love to,” she told him.

Dick’s smile at her answer was so bright that she swore that she had gone blind for a few seconds.

“How will I get a new identity, though?”

Bruce waved her off.

“Don’t worry about it. Tim will take care of it. He and Barbara will also create several identities with your first name and different last names in other countries to cover your tracks.”

It was probably illegal, but she wouldn’t complain. It was the smartest thing to do. 

Marinette nodded and thanked them.

“Should I do something about my appearance, too?” She asked nervously.

Dick smiled sympathetically.

“Maybe a few little changes. Nothing much, as it would be too many changes at a time for you. But I was thinking, maybe something like getting rid of your bangs and get hair extensions, to make your hair longer? Something subtle that’s enough for someone who knows you to take a double-take. Which is enough time for you to run away if you need to.”

Marinette sighed, relieved. It was a good idea and something she could live with. She had been wanting to let her hair grow anyway.

“Okay, I’m fine with that.”

Dick smiled at her and ruffled her hair playfully.

“You’ll have to be very careful as not to have any pictures of you on the Internet, too,” said Bruce.

“Of course, it would give me away.”

The oldest Wayne nodded.

“Now, all we need to talk about is your living arrangements.” He froze at his own words. “Ah, I’m not throwing you out! I’m happy to have you here. I just thought that I would give you the choice to decide where you want to live. You can stay with us, of course, or if you would like your own privacy, I have a few apartments in the city that I would be happy to let you live in,” he said with a smile.

In the week that Marinette has been living with the Waynes, she had felt guilty.

Guilty that they had to take care of her when she wasn’t from their family.

Guilty that she had people taking care of her when her parents were worried sick about her.

She was very happy with them, but the guilt was eating at her.

“Can I think about it,” she asked even though she already knew the answer.

She wanted to talk about it with Damian first. She knew he would support her, but still, she wanted to discuss it with him before telling Bruce.

“Of course.”

* * *

Thankfully, Damian did support her, so she told Bruce the next day that she would like to move into one of his apartments. She was scared that he would think that she was ungrateful or something like that but he smiled at her, telling her that he understood the need to be independent after everything she went through and offered to help her find furniture for her apartment.

Dick had accompanied her to the hairdresser for a new haircut and when they got out, she felt like a new person. She felt more confident, too.

It was like she was leaving Marinette Dupain-Cheng in Paris and was slowly becoming Marinette Grayson.

Seeing Damian blush at her new appearance was a plus too.

During the next week, she went visiting Bruce’s apartments with Dick and Damian and chose one with their help. One in the nice part of the city, not too far from the school she would be attending in August — because, apparently, school started in August in the US, and not in September like in France — and not too far from the Wayne Manor either.

They took several trips to Ikea to get furniture. Bruce wanted to pay for everything, but Marinette managed to negotiate and pay for some of it since she had some money. 

Soon enough, Marinette was settled in her brand new apartment.

And the first night she spent in it, she spent it crying.

She cried and cried for all the things and the people she left behind.

She cried because she missed her parents.

She cried because she missed her friends.

She cried because she missed Tikki.

She cried because she missed her home.

And she cried because she felt guilty that some part of her was still a little bit happy because she was with her soulmate.

The next day, she felt better. She still wasn’t over the whole ‘I won’t see my family or go home for years’ thing, but she had hope. Hope that one day, the SSC would fall and she would get to go home and see her family again.

And she would cling to that hope for as long as she could because it’s what would get her going.

* * *

“You know, it’s a very nice place,” Damian said a few days after Marinette had settled in her apartment.

He had wanted her close to him at first, but he understood why she chose to have her own place. She didn’t tell him, or anyone, but his soulmate was so easy to read. He knew that she had felt guilty living with them. His father and brothers knew it too, and that was why Bruce offered her the choice in the first place.

“I know! I really like it, here! And of course, you’re welcome here anytime.”

Damian smirked at that. He might find himself at her place more often than not, as it would offer him more privacy than the manor could.

“Won’t you feel lonely, though?”

Marinette shrugged and sat next to him on the couch, handing him a drink.

“We’ll see about that. It’s my first time living by myself though, so I might be.”

They fell silent after that, enjoying each other’s company. His hand found a strand of hair and it stared at it, still getting used to it being so long.

It suited her, though.

Marinette started humming as she answered a text on her new phone — a gift from Grayson — and cooed at something on the screen.

“Dick just sent me a picture of a cute dog, look!”

She got closer to him to show him the picture of a Samoyed puppy.

He had to admit that the dog was very cute.

“You seem… happier,” he said cautiously.

The blue-eyed girl put her phone away and turned to face him.

“I haven’t… totally got over everything. It will probably take me a bit of time for that,” he nodded at her words, encouraging her to keep going. “But on my first night here, I got a good and long cry and took time to go over everything I went through and… Well, there is still hope, you know? If the government really is behind the company, then, it might not be forever as we change government every five years. I know it might not be the case but the hope is what get me going.”

She took a deep breath.

“I also visited Alya’s blog yesterday. She’s thinking of me. She’s been writing to me, kind of. Her blog became some sort of journal where she talks to me. She talks about my family and my friends and… Well, now I have a way to keep in some sort of contact with them even if it’s one-sided.”

She stroked his jaw gently and he gave her a smile.

“Plus, I have you. And you make me happy even when I’m sad.”

His hand found hers and he squeezed it gently.

“And I really, really want to kiss you right now.”

He frowned. He wanted to kiss her too, but he didn’t want to take advantage of her vulnerability.

“It might not be a good idea.”

She smiled at him.

“It’s nice of you to worry about me like that, but I’m not that vulnerable, I swear.”

Damian shook his head and kissed her cheek.

“Not now.”

“Okay,” she breathed. “You’re right. I should be in a better mindset. Can I still cuddle you?”

“Of course,” he scoffed and brought her close to him.

She smiled brightly at him, and Damian knew that his self-imposed ‘no kissing rule’ wouldn’t last long.

Marinette was stronger than he had given her credit for.

As his soulmate started another conversation, Damian thought that when — not if — Marinette would see her family and friends again, he would thank Césaire for giving the newly Grayson something to keep going.

Without it, Damian feared that Marinette wouldn’t have been able to move on with her life.

* * *

More than two weeks after Marinette disappeared, and Alya was in her room, unable to stop crying.

After her confrontation with Lila, Busiter forced her to go to the principal. She had been suspended for two weeks.

But it was worth it.

Or, at least, it had been.

Lila hasn’t been seen since then.

Since she had a lot of time on her hands, Alya had made her research and managed to prove that Lila was never traveling as she had claimed.

She didn’t find anything else to get her in trouble, but at least, she had gotten expelled from school.

Not that it changed anything, since she wasn’t showing up in class ever since Alya had punched her.

God, that had been satisfying.

But it wasn’t good enough. It didn’t bring Marinette back.

And Lila was still free, somewhere.

In Italy, if what Kim told her was true. The boy went to visit Lila’s mother when Lila didn’t go back to school, and the woman told him that as Lila was really homesick, she went back to Italy to live with her father.

It made Alya so angry. After everything she did, she got away without any consequences?!

No. She couldn’t accept that.

No matter how long it would take her, Alya Césaire would get Lila Rossi to face justice.

But not now.

For now, Alya missed her best friend.

She had yelled at Lila that it was her fault since she had ratted Marinette out to the Soulmate Searcher Company. And it was her fault!

But the reporter was the one who let her best friend’s secret slip. If it wasn’t for her, Lila would have never known about Marinette having a soulmate.

If it wasn’t for her, Marinette would still be with them.

For two weeks, she had been posting articles on the Ladyblog, retelling Marinette’s story. Begging people to help her if they ever saw her.

She would write about how the blue-eyed girl’s family and friends missed her but hoped that she was alright and to stay hidden where the SSC couldn’t find her.

She wrote about how she hoped that one day they would see her again.

She wrote about Lila Rossi too and promised that she would bring the girl to justice one day, even if took her years to achieve.

The Ladyblog became something else entirely. It was now her only way to talk to Marinette, not knowing if she could see any of it.

She decided that the Ladyblog would become her mean of communication with Marinette. She would write trivial things like how her day went, what her friends and family were doing, she would wonder what the Dupain-Cheng was doing.

It was the only way she could think of to cope with Marinette’s disappearance.

Her last articles had one merit, though. It made people angry with the Soulmate Searcher Company. What were only rumors were now something with proof. People were asking for those with a soulmate bond to be careful. They were asking why someone would tell the SSC about a soul bonded person.

Paris was angry.

And somehow, it made Alya happy to see all those people angry on Marinette’s behalf.

_God, be alright Marinette, please,_ she thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick question for you all:
> 
> What do you think would Marinette gift for Damian for his birthday?  
> And what would Damian gift Marinette for her birthday?


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone for your kind words on my notice last weeks!  
> I can't believe how wonderful my readers are... You're all so kind to me and I feel like I don't deserve that.
> 
> I hope you'll be satisfied with this chapter. If you guys want to see specific things, don't hesitate to tell me and I'll try to see if it can fits with what I have planned for the rest of this story. 
> 
> I start my job on February 1st! Thanks to everyone for your congratulations!  
> I have to say that I'm so scared. It's a job in my chosen career and I'm so scare that I won't be able to do what they ask of me (Hello, Impostor Syndrome, my old friend) and thus, I'm a ball of nerves right now. 
> 
> Anyway, thank you again to you guys for reading this story, it feels surreal to see how many people reads it.
> 
> Thank you so much!

Marinette stared at the blank page in front of her. It was the beginning of June, now, and while Damian’s birthday — and hers too — was two months away, she wanted to design something now so she could have the time to make it.

She had wanted to make him a jacket, so with that thought in mind, she opened her new sketchbook — a gift from Damian.

Usually, when the designer opened her sketchbook, she would start drawing right away. Simple ideas at first, and then, the more she drew, the more ideas would come and the design for whatever she wanted to make would become more complex.

But she’s been staring at the blank page for five minutes now, unable to draw anything.

Five minutes, she noticed, was such a long time to stare at something.

When nothing triggered her inspiration, she tried to play some music on her laptop.

When that didn’t do anything, she browsed on the internet and looked at a lot of fashion-related pictures.

She tried to read, to watch a few episodes from a TV show that she knew had amazing clothes in it, but nothing happened.

So she went out, sending a text to Dick and Damian to tell them where she was, as she promised them when she moved in. She could go out as she pleased, but they wanted to know where she was going so they knew where to look if something were to happen. She understood where they were coming from, as Gotham was dangerous, and she agreed.

But neither the park nor the new sight that were Gotham’s streets triggered Marinette’s inspiration.

So she went home, stared at her sketchbook some more before hiding it out of view.

Maybe she just wasn’t in the mood, she thought.

Maybe inspiration would hit her later.

But a few weeks later, in the middle of June, Marinette still hadn’t designed anything.

* * *

Marinette was in the city with Dick, wanting to find something for Damian’s birthday. She felt bad for not inviting him to come with her, but she wanted his birthday present to be a surprise, and she would see him later at her apartment anyway.

And she had something to discuss with Dick anyway.

“So,” the older man started, smiling at her. “What do you have in mind for the little bird’s present?”

Marinette smiled at the nickname.

“I don’t know, honestly. I tried to design something but… It seems like I can’t right now,” she said, frowning.

Richard took brought her close to him and rearranged themselves so they could walk arm in arm. “It’s okay. After everything you went through, it’s normal that some of the things you found joy in before don’t bring you joy anymore. It might come back. It might not. But you’re a creative person, and I’m sure you’ll find something else to do.”

The teenage girl nodded, smiling at Damian’s brother. “Yeah, I guess.”

They stayed silent for a couple of minutes as Marinette looked at the shop windows, trying to find something for Damian. Nothing caught her eyes.

“I wanted to talk to you about something, actually,” she eventually said, biting her lip in a nervous gesture.

“What is it?”

“We haven’t talked about school, so I don’t know if you and Bruce wanted me to be homeschooled or not…”

Dick smiled at her and ruffled her hair.

“I’m glad you’re bringing that up. We talked about it with Bruce, and while it would be best if you are homeschooled for the whole SSC thing, we don’t think it would be good for your sanity,” he chuckled and Marinette chuckled with him as he was right about that. “So we thought that you could go to Damian’s school, but we have one condition.”

“What is it,” she asked with a bright smile, knowing that she would accept anything if it meant not being homeschooled.

“We’ll make sure that you’re in every of Damian’s class, so he can be with you at any moment. We know you want your freedom, but people are after you and we want to protect you.”

The blue-eyed girl gently squeezed Richard’s arm.

“Staying at Damian’s side is not a punishment or a lack of freedom in my eyes, so I’m fine with that.”

Dick beamed at her. “Good!”

It was a few minutes later that something caught Marinette’s eyes in one of the shop windows.

It was a shop that seemed to sell a lot of different stones. They were very pretty and Marinette remembered her mother telling her that stones had a lot of characteristics and were good for people.

“Do you mind if I go in there,” she asked Dick.

“Not at all! I actually like that kind of thing, so I can help you with that.”

“Really?” She beamed and they entered the shop.

After half an hour of advice from Dick, she exited the shop with two big stones: a labradorite for Damian and a Rose Quartz for herself. She decided that she would make pendants out of them. The shop sold already made pendants, but she wanted to make a unique one for Damian so she bought big stones so she could either make trials and errors with it or make several pieces if she wanted.

After that, they went to an arts and crafts store where she bought everything she needed to make jewels out of the stones.

She kissed Dick’s cheek in thanks when he brought her home.

Late afternoon, Damian visited her as they agreed earlier in the week.

“You seem happy,” he observed, “I guess that your day with Grayson went well?”

“Yup! I found everything I wanted. Dick was nice enough to give me advice for something too, so now, all I have to do is get to work,” she exclaimed, a big smile on her lips.

While waiting for Damian to arrive, Marinette had opened her sketchbook once again and started drawing. Not clothes, like she used to do, but jewels, this time. She had been afraid that she would never design again, and while it wasn’t for her passion, it was still designing, and it made her happy.

“I’m glad to see you smile like this,” he said, his face serious. 

Marinette smiled at him and got closer to him, gently stroking his jaw.

“I miss home, I won’t lie. But I’m fine. I found something that makes me happy, I get updates from everyone I love back home, and even if I can’t answer them, it’s enough. I have you. You make me happy,” she said with a small smile.

Damian’s hand raised to her cheek, stroking it gently and they leaned in together, their lips finally meeting.

When she kissed Damian through the bond earlier in the year, she had thought that nothing could compare to that.

She had been wrong. Kissing Damian now was nothing like it had been through the bond. Kissing her soulmate in what she called real life felt like her senses were increased tenfold. She was aware of him more than she’s ever been.

Their kiss deepened as they brought the other closer, wanting to feel more of each other.

She could lose herself in this kiss.

She could lose herself in Damian, and she would be happy to.

* * *

June and July passed very fast for Marinette. She had a test to pass in mid-July to enter Damian’s school and he had helped her study for it. School in America and in France were so different, without Damian’s help, she was sure she would have failed.

But she passed. Barely, but she passed.

She and Damian were officially together since that incredible kiss — finally — and Jason was constantly teasing them. More than once, Damian threw a knife at his brother for his teasing.

She spent a lot of time working on Damian’s birthday present too. She was glad that she had bought such a big stone as she messed up several times, but she was finally happy with the result.

She had carved the stone in a point but it was what carried the stone to make it a pendant that had a complex design.

She hoped he would like it.

For their birthday — they were seventeen, now! — Damian’s family had a small party. They blew their candles together as his brothers, his father and Alfred applauded.

She laughed as Damian’s brothers gifted him different weapons. Alfred had gifted him a collection of old books, and she could see in her soulmate’s eyes that he would read them all by the end of the month. Bruce gifted him expensive supplies for his paintings and drawings.

She offered him the pendant and explained how she had made it. He seemed to know the characteristics of the stone thanks to Dick and he smiled at her and kissed her in thanks. She smiled brightly when he put it on immediately — ignoring Jason’s teasing at their public display of affection — and looked at it with a smile on his lips.

Like Damian, his brothers gifted her small weapons that she could hide on her person at any moment. They said they would be more reassured for her safety knowing that she had something to protect herself with. The knives and daggers she got were so beautiful, Marinette thought they had their place in a museum.

Alfred gifted her baking supplies and Bruce gifted her a jacket made of kevlar.

Jason took a picture of the moment she hugged Bruce to thank him, and his uncomfortable face was hilarious.

She still apologized afterward for making him uncomfortable, but he waved her off and ruffled her hair like her father used to do.

And Damian… Damian gifted her two paintings. One of her and her family, and the other of her and her friends.

The gift made her tear up and she hugged Damian so tight that she was afraid he couldn’t breathe, but he didn’t complain once and hugged her as tight in return.

That night, she stayed in the manor. While she had her own room here, she sneaked out to join Damian and lay next to him.

“Thank you so much,” she whispered to him as they cuddled.

He kissed her, a soft kiss that made her toes curl, and said, “anything for you.”

They stayed silent for some minutes, basking in each other’s presence.

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something,” Damian eventually said.

His tone was soft but serious, so she listened with attention.

“What is it,” she asked when he didn’t continue.

He brought her closer to him, his grip tightening.

“My father has been wondering if you wanted to join us in our patrols…”

“Oh,” was the only thing that got out of her mouth.

She’s been thinking about that, of course. She has been Ladybug for years until she wasn’t, and it was something that she both missed and didn’t miss at the same time.

She missed the way she could run on the rooftops, doing flips whenever and wherever she wanted. She missed the wind in her face, how she felt like she was flying. She missed the adrenaline.

However, she didn’t miss the fighting. She didn’t miss the screams of civilians when they were hurt or afraid. She didn’t miss getting hurt. She didn’t miss all the suffering.

And yet, even with all that, she still felt so good when she helped people.

“I… I don’t know,” she said. “I both miss and don’t miss being Ladybug, if you know what I mean?” She felt him nod and she continued. “I think, for now, if your father and brothers agree, I would like to train with them. To be able to defend myself and others should something happen. But… I won’t join you guys. Not now, at least.”

Damian kissed her forehead and she closed her eyes, those little touches making her happier than ever.

“Of course, it’s your decision.”

They fell asleep together, and both Marinette and Damian could say that they had never slept so well before.

* * *

_Marinette,_

_Happy birthday! I can’t believe that you’re seventeen already. I hope that wherever you are, you are safe and healthy and that you can celebrate your birthday in peace. I hope you have people around you to celebrate it with._

_I’m sorry I haven’t written to you earlier. It’s been… difficult, to put everything I want to tell you on paper. Or, well, on screen. But it’s your birthday today, and I thought that there couldn’t be a better day than today to finally start writing you._

_We all met today to celebrate your birthday, even though you’re not here with us. We made your favorite cake, the three chocolates one. It wasn’t as good as the one you or your parents make, but we all put so much effort into it, that it was still pretty good in the end._

_It was the first time that we all went out since you left. It’s been difficult for everyone when you disappeared and we all grew apart for a while, but I think it will be okay, now. Even though you’re not here, you’re still the one that brings us all together._

_I hope you’re okay where you are, Marinette._

_We miss you. We all miss you._

_But don’t worry too much about us, alright? I know you’re probably wondering how we all are, but we’re fine. Your parents are fine too. They miss you so much, but they have hope that they’ll see you again one day._

_I think they’re planning to celebrate your birthday too. I know I’ve seen your father work on your favorite cake when I visited the bakery earlier._

_The bakery has been doing alright, too. It’s even more popular, now. Words spread about what happened to you, and let me tell you, everyone is angry. I don’t know if we’re going to be able to do anything about the Soulmate Searcher Company, but there have been some protests. Someone else disappeared in Lille, and he was one pair of a soulmate. His name is Valentin and he’s only eighteen._

_I don’t know what the SSC does exactly, but it can’t be good since all the people who disappeared never reappeared._

_God, Marinette, I miss you, but I’m so glad you managed to run away._

_I hope that wherever you are, you’re happy and safe and healthy._

_Please, Marinette, please… Be safe._

_Don’t worry about us. Worry about yourself._

_We’ll see you again._

_I promise to write more to you._

_Love you,_

_Nino._

Nino sighed as he read his text for the third time. Satisfied with it, he published it on Alya’s blog. There were so many new texts today as it was their missing friend’s birthday. But it was the first time that Nino ever wrote something for Marinette.

He felt guilty for not doing it sooner, but he wasn’t ready to do it. Now, though, he felt better about what happened to his childhood friend, and had hope that he would see her again.

No matter how long it would take, he would see her again, he was sure of it.

Nino turned around to see his girlfriend asleep on his bed. It had been a rough day for her.

Alya took Marinette’s disappearance very hard. She was convinced that it was her fault, since she was the one who outed her best friend’s secret to Lila. The bespectacled boy had tried again and again to persuade her that she wasn’t at fault, but nothing worked.

Their friends and her parents tried to help her see that she wasn’t at fault. Marinette’s parents talked to her too, telling her that the only people to blame were that ‘evil company’ and that ‘evil child who outed her’. Their words, not his.

But nothing worked. Nino could only watched as Alya spiraled and fell into depression. Before today, he hadn’t seen her smile in weeks, but the outing had left her exhausted.

Thankfully, she would start seeing a therapist in two days. Hopefully, they would be able to help his girlfriend when he and her family couldn’t.

He stood up from his seat and gently sat next to the reporter, softly stroking away the hair that got in her face while she was sleeping. 

When writing to Marinette, he had wondered if he should tell her about Alya’s depression, but had thought better of it. His childhood friend was probably somewhere far away from them and had to worry about her own safety. He knew that the blue-eyed girl would scold him for not telling him, as Alya was her best friend, but he didn’t want to worry her.

Alya was the one who wrote to the designer the most, along with Sabine and Tom. She was always bright and happy in her texts, not wanting to give her best friend more to worry about.

And he understood exactly where she was coming from. If the blue-eyed girl read their letters to her, it would be her only way to know about them.

He just hoped that Alya’s fake happiness in her later would become real again.

Laying next to her, he brought her closer, sighing as he felt her relax against him.

He felt asleep, feeling all warm next to his girlfriend.

That night, he dreamed about Marinette. A little five-year-old Marinette who was running around with him and Kim. Their parents were in the background, looking after them.

His dream shifted, and he dreamed of what could have been if Lila never joined their class. He dreamed that Marinette was still with them, happy and smiling. He dreamed that there was no evil company looking for soulmates. He dreamed of a guy with no face showing up for Marinette and making her happier than he’s ever seen her.

Unconsciously, his grip on his girlfriend tightened as he cried in his sleep, his body shaking against his girlfriend’s.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! 
> 
> First of all, thank you for all your comments! They always make me so happy and motivate me to write this story! 
> 
> My first week at my new job went well. I was so worried that what they would ask of me wasn't in my skills set, but in the end, it's well within it, so I'm reassured now. 
> 
> Here is the chapter! They might be a bit shorter from now on, I'm sorry for that. I'll try to still update every Saturday, and if I can't, I might move the update date on Sundays. If I can't update at all, I'll tell you like always. 
> 
> I hope you'll like this chapter.
> 
> Thank you for being amazing readers!

Marinette looked at herself in the mirror, trying to get used to the image that she was seeing. Uniforms weren’t a common thing in France. Very few schools chose to impose it on its students, and the French girl never had to wear one until now.

Even though she still couldn’t design anything, she still loved fashion, and the uniform she was wearing was not something she would have chosen to wear. It wasn’t ugly, but it wasn’t nice either. The uniform was mainly blue, with a blue plaid skirt and a blue sweater. The blazer was some kind of beige, and it could have been nice if it was any other shade of blue.

Looking at the uniform made her kinda missed her pink clothes. She hadn’t worn much of that color lately, and she wished she had indulged in it.

Another thing that surprised her about school in the US, was that it started in August, and not in September like she was used to back in France. High school was also four years long compared to the three years in her native country.

Briefly, she thought about her friends back in France. They were still on vacation right now, probably thinking of their last year of _lycée_. It made the young girl sad, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to spend their very last year of _lycée_ with them.

As Marinette made her way to the entrance of the building, where Damian could pick her up, her thoughts drifted to Nino’s first letter to her. He had made her cry with it, and it wasn’t until she read his letter that it hit her how much she missed him. But his letter had made her worried. He didn’t mention Alya once in it. She had hoped that the reporter wouldn’t blame herself for what happened, but knowing her best friend, that was exactly what was happening.

The fact that Nino didn’t say a word about his girlfriend meant that Alya was not alright.

And there wasn’t anything she could do about it. She wished, now more than ever, that she could contact her family. She had even asked Tim, once, if she couldn’t use a burner phone but he had smiled sadly at her and told her that with the SSC willing to go as far as kidnapping and torturing people, it would be too dangerous to contact her family. The SSC could be listening to every phone conversations, or someone could slip and say something, like what happened with Alya and Lila.

She understood. She couldn’t be with her family, but she would do everything to protect them. Even if that meant no contact at all until the Soulmate Searcher Company went down.

A soft hand on her shoulder pulled her out of her thoughts, and she was met with Damian’s concerned expression.

“Are you okay?” He asked, his grip on her shoulder slightly tightening with worry.

Marinette smiled at him, squeezing the hand on her shoulder in a reassuring gesture, and nodded.

“I’m fine, just a little nervous about today,” she half lied. She _was_ nervous about her first day at Gotham Academy.

She smiled at him again and stood on tiptoes, kissing him softly. He immediately responded, bringing her closer to him with an arm around her waist, and Marinette could feel herself melt in his embrace.

“Good morning,” she breathed after they broke apart.

“Good morning,” he whispered, placing a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Are you ready to go?”

She nodded and he took her hand, guiding her to his car. Alfred wouldn’t be the one to drive them to school. Since Damian had his driving license and a car of his own, he would be the one to drive them every day, letting Alfred be available for the other member of his family.

“So, why are you so nervous about today,” he asked once they settled in the car.

“Oh, you know, not knowing people and all that jazz. It’s always scary when you transfer somewhere new. I’m just grateful that I’m transferring at the beginning of the year and not in the middle of it. I won’t have to introduce myself in front of everyone, at least,” she rambled, trying to calm down. Thinking about her home earlier made her forget how nervous she really was about starting school. She decided to look at the window as the car moved, hoping it would help her relax.

“You’re going to be alright. And you know Montgomery and Williams already. They will be insufferable once they realize you’ll be attending school with them.”

The blue-eyed girl chuckled. “I can’t wait to meet them for real,” she said, falling silent for a few seconds, before inhaling. “I’m also scared about what people will say bout us. I don’t want them to leak anything to the press or something. We’ve been lucky so far, and I would hate to be a bother to you.”

Damian parked the car, and Marinette was surprised to see that they were already there. Seeing the magnificent school building, her nerves came back tenfold.

Her boyfriend turned off the engine and turned around to face her.

“You would never be a bother to me, so don’t go and think like that for a second, do you hear me?” When she nodded, he relaxed a little and put a hand on her cheek, stroking it gently with his thumb. “And you don’t have to worry about them going to the press. They have to sign a paper every year where they agree to not put anything on the internet about me or go to the press. It will extend to you too, Father made sure of it.”

Marinette frowned, and Damian’s thumb stopped moving. “And they actually listen?”

Her soulmate scoffed. “Yes. believe it or not, but they’re scared of my family’s influence. One wore about me on the internet or the press, and the person responsible would get sued right away. No one wants to get sued by the Waynes.”

The dark-haired girl chuckled. “Of course they don’t.”

They fell silent for a few seconds, enjoying each other’s company before they had to deal with a crowd.

“Hey,” she tried to catch Damian’s attention. She continued when he glanced at her. “Give me a good luck kiss?” She grinned.

She only stopped grinning when he did kiss her, and suddenly, she wasn’t so nervous anymore.

Damian would be by her side the whole time, after all.

* * *

Damian had made sure to get to school early so he could show her around. He showed her the most important spots like the cafeteria, the library, and the gym. He told her that she would just have to follow him to the different classroom as she could get lost easily. The building is really big, after all.

“Anything in particular you want to see,” he asked as they made their way to their first period.

“Actually, yes,” she said and she grinned mischievously at him. “Do you know the spots where we can secretly make out?” She wiggled her eyebrows at him, but it only made her look cute if he had to be honest. She couldn’t pull the mischievous look even if she tried.

At her question, he averted his gaze, his ears warm with a slight blush. Unconsciously, he reached for the necklace she had given him for his birthday — he’s never taken it off ever since he had put it on. 

“I really don’t,” he answered in a strangled voice.

His girlfriend laughed next to him.

“I guess I’ll just have to ask around, then.”

“Please, don’t,” he deadpanned, opening the classroom’s door and letting her enter before him.

She smiled at him at his gesture and he smiled back.

Only slightly, though. He didn’t want the idiots of this school to see him smile.

Most of the students from their first period were already here, and he nodded at Montgomery and Williams who were there too. Their friend, Allan Baker was with them too. The fourth member of their group wasn’t there, though.

It’s at the thought of the fourth friend that he froze. Damian didn’t give much thought to his classmates, so he hadn’t remembered. He had been busy worrying about Marinette all summer, after all, and nothing else mattered.

But the fourth friend was someone who was a carbon copy of one of Marinette’s friends back in Paris.

And there was no way they weren’t related.

After all, Félix Culpa had French origins.

The youngest Wayne watched as Marinette greeted Williams and Montgomery with a big, bright smile, hugging them in greetings as they asked her questions since she hadn’t answered any of their messages since May.

The moment the first period ended, he would take her apart to tell her about Félix.

He hoped she wouldn’t panic too much.

* * *

Marinette was more relaxed as the first period ended. The students in her first class of the day were nice and welcomed her warmly. They didn’t say anything about her name being in the contract they had to sign, and for that, she was grateful. She didn’t want to answer questions.

She had been so happy to see Allegra and Claude too! Since she had to leave her phone behind when she ran away from Paris, she hadn’t been able to contact them, especially since they only talked via Instagram. She couldn’t be on social media anymore, after all.

Thankfully, they didn’t ask too many questions when she told them that she didn’t have any social media anymore and that she wasn’t planning to have any in the future.

They had been good friends when they were only online friends, and she was happy to see that they could get along in real life too.

They had introduced her to their friend Allan, a boy who reminded her so much of Nino that it hurt a little, but he was very nice.

They promised to introduce her to their other friend during lunch as they went their separate way to their next class.

As she exited the classroom, Damian suddenly took her hand, making her yelp in surprise, and dragged her away from prying eyes.

They stopped in a sort of alcove, where there was barely enough space for the both of them.

“Well, that’s cozy. I thought you didn’t know any spot for secret make-out sessions?” She smirked at him.

Damian hid his face in his hands and she couldn’t help but laugh at the sight. It wasn’t easy to make him blush, but she had discovered that her being so forward about physical interactions made him slightly blush. It was funny to see.

“That’s not why I brought you here,” he said in a whisper and put a hand where her shoulder and her neck met, stroking the spot with his thumb as if he was trying to comfort her.

She frowned, knowing that whatever he dragged her here for, it was serious. “What’s wrong?”

Her boyfriend sighed. “It’s about Montgomery’s other friend.”

She raised an eyebrow. “What about him?”

“I never interact with him so I forgot about him.” Marinette knew it was half true. Damian remembered everything and everyone he met, but if the person didn’t represent any danger for him or his family, or if he just didn’t care, he would never spare them a second thought until he saw them again. “But their friend’s name is Félix Culpa.”

At the name, her blue eyes widened.

“But… But that’s Adrien’s cousin! What are we going to do? He can’t tell Adrien I’m here!”

Her soulmate nodded, and he pulled her to him in a hug as she started to panic.

“Culpa is a cold bastard, but he isn’t a jerk. If you tell him not to tell Agreste, he probably won’t.”

“Probably?” She whimpered against his chest.

“I can always threaten him.”

She didn’t know why, but she laughed at that.

“Of course you would do that.”

His grip on her tightened, and he buried his face in the crook of her neck.

“I won’t let anyone put you in danger.”

Marinette smiled as she hugged him back.

“I know you won’t.”

* * *

When Damian and Marinette sat at a table in the cafeteria, Félix was already there with his friends. She had heard from Adrien how much he and his cousin looked alike, but it was another thing to witness it. The only way to tell them apart was the way they dressed and the way they styled their hair.

Claude wasted introducing Marinette and Félix, and the French girl could only nod nervously at the blond.

Félix frowned at her. “Your name is familiar.”

The dark-haired girl laughed nervously as Damian glared at Félix.

“Oh, well, I’ve been friends with Claude and Allegra for a while now, so that’s maybe it?”

The Adrien look-alike shook his head. “No, that’s not it.”

Thankfully, he dropped the subject for the remainder of lunch, but as soon as they were done, Damian stood up.

“Culpa, a word please.”

Félix raised an eyebrow at his tone but didn’t complain as he stood and followed the youngest Wayne. Marinette smiled and waved at her friends before following the two boys.

“What do you want,” Félix asked once they were alone.

“Uh, you’re Adrien’s cousin, right?” Marinette asked, with a shaky voice.

She saw the exact moment Félix connected the dots.

“You’re Adrien’s missing friend.”

Damian frowned. “So he told you about that?”

The blond shook his head. “My mother did. I don’t talk to Adrien much. We don’t get along.”

“Please, don’t tell them I’m here,” she asked, and she could feel tears gathering in her eyes. If he told them, it would be over for her. She would have to run away again, and this time she would be truly alone. “No one can know.”

Félix’s face softened as he looked at her, and he looked even more like Adrien with this expression.

“Of course I won’t. My mother told me about the Soulmate Company. It would be cruel of me to tell about your whereabouts.”

“That’s it? You won’t tell? Just like that,” she asked in a small voice.

Félix scowled. “Of course I won’t. I’m not a jerk. What this company is doing is sick, and there is no way I would sell you to them.”

Marinette smiled at him and jumped in his arms, hugging him tightly.

“Thank you!”

Culpa froze in her embrace. “You’re welcome, but I really don’t like to be touched.”

Marinette released him immediately.

“I’m so sorry! I won’t do it again. But thank you again.”

Damian put his arm around her waist, turning around to leave. Félix walked beside them, glancing at the couple every now and then.

“If I hear that you told anyone about Marinette, you will regret it, Culpa,” Damian broke the silence.

“Damian!” Marinette hissed.

“I told you I won’t, Wayne.”

“See that you don’t.”

* * *

_Our dear Marinette,_

_Sweetie, how are you? Are you safe where you are? Do you have people you can trust around you? A roof on your head? Do you eat well?_

_Your father and I still can’t believe you’re not here anymore. Chasing someone from the country just because they have a soulmate is inadmissible. How can someone hunt our baby daughter like this?_

_Your father and I are grateful every day that you convinced us to enroll you in those free-running classes. Without it, you wouldn’t have been to run away as you did._

_We’re so proud of you, sweetie. Wherever you are, know that we are, and always be proud of you._

_The house feels empty without you. Sometimes, I can find your father in your room staring at your unfinished projects. He’s fine, don’t worry about us, it’s just that he misses you very much and he feels closer to you when he’s in your room._

_I miss you, too._

_Every day, I regret that we didn’t get to say goodbye before you had to go. I wished I could have taken you in my arm one last time. If only I knew, that morning, that it would be the last time I hugged you. I probably won’t have let you go, if I had known._

_But enough about those sad thoughts._

_Your father and I are fine. We know deep down that we will see you again. The SSC won’t be around forever, I’m sure of it. And when they get down, you will come back to us._

_Your father created a new recipe. He named it after you. It has a lot of success in the bakery, everyone loves it._

_When you come back home, you can taste it._

_We love you, sweetie._

_Come back soon._

_Love,_

_Maman._


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for your comment! I always love reading them!
> 
> I'm sorry, this chapter is shorter this week. 
> 
> And I'm sorry for all the feelings too, haha.
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy it!

As the months passed, Marinette felt more and more at home in Gotham. She still missed her home, but Damian and his family made it easier to move on with her life.

Alya’s blog helped a lot too. She had been worried for her friend, but it seemed that she was doing better. Nino was mentioning her more and more in his letters, and the reporter’s letters felt more genuine now. Alya even said in one of her letters that she was going to therapy, and while she didn’t say anything else about it, Marinette was happy that her best friend did what she had to do to get better.

School was going well too. Félix held to his promise and never told Adrien or his mother about her, and she was grateful for it. They had grown to be quite close, as Félix was a little piece of home, even if he was the total opposite of Adrien, it still brought her comfort.

Plus, it was funny to see Damian pout — not that he was actually pouting, she couldn’t even imagine him ever doing so — as he was forced to spend time with her friends. She really liked Claude, Allegra, Allan, and Félix, and poor Damian was forced to tag along. Marinette suspected that he actually didn’t mind that much, as she had seen him having several conversations with them without scowling or glaring at them, but was just putting up an act.

Her relationship with Damian was going well. More than well. They didn’t fight a lot, the only time they fought was when Damian was putting himself in danger while he was Robin. Her concern for him would transform into anger, and they would fight because of it. The fights wouldn’t last long though, and they always made up in the next hour or so.

She could never stay mad at him for too long.

They had grown closer physically too, but Marinette was starting to get frustrated. She wished they could get even _closer_.

But it would be a conversation for another time. She was warm and comfortable in his arms right now, and there was something else she wanted to tell him before they took this step in their relationship.

She turned slightly to look at his face. He was focused on his book right now, but he looked at her when he felt her eyes on him.

“What”, he asked softly as to not break the silence.

“You’re handsome, you know that?” She smirked at him.

He raised an eyebrow at her and she kissed his cheek, then his nose, and finally his lips.

“Very, very handsome. And clever.”

“Are you just going to list my qualities,” he asked as he put his book away and gathered her in his arms. She hummed as he kissed her slowly, almost lazily.

“Mmmmh. And I love your pets too. Alfred and Titus are the best.”

“Oh, so that’s how it is,” he began, his face buried in the crook of her neck. “You love my pets more than you love me,” he joked.

Slowly, she pushed him away so she could look at him in the eyes.

This. This moment.

This was now or never.

“I love you, Damian,” she whispered to him.

His eyes widened and he looked at her as if he couldn’t believe that she had said those words. She watched as his face softened, the disbelief slowly melting away. His hand cupped her cheek, and their lips met in a slow, sweet kiss that made her toes curl and her knees weak.

“I love you,” he told her when they broke apart, only to kiss her again after that.

It was so very natural for her when she started to undress him and he did the same to her.

Everything felt natural after that, and that night, she felt closer to Damian than ever before.

She told him she loved him again as they laid naked next to each other. He was asleep, but it didn’t matter. Now that she said it once, she would say it thousand and thousand of times.

Damian needed to hear it.

* * *

Mid-January, Dick received a text from Damian in the morning, telling him that when he got to her apartment to pick her up for school, she was burning with a fever.

She still had enough strength to kick him out and force him to go to school, but Damian didn’t want his girlfriend to be alone when she was sick — something could happen, and even with their bond, he wouldn’t be able to do anything — and thus, asked his older brother to take care of her. 

Dick really liked Marinette and thought of her as a sister now, so of course he would take care of her!

So after asking Alfred if he would make something warm for Marinette, Richard made his way to Marinette’s apartment — he and Damian each had a key that the blue-eyed girl gave them when she had moved in — and entered when she didn’t answer the door when he knocked.

The apartment was in the dark, no lights were on.

Dick frowned at the sight.

“Marinette?” He called.

When there was no answer, Richard put the soup in the kitchen before making his way to Marinette’s bedroom. The door was open and the room was dark, like the rest of the apartment, but he could see the teenage girl under the cover.

Dick entered silently, as to not wake the sleeping girl, and put a hand on her forehead.

Her fever was really high and it concerned him.

The oldest of the Wayne siblings winced when he saw Marinette open her eyes. Her blue eyes were unfocused, and they widened when she looked at him.

“Papa?”

Richard’s heart broke as the dark-haired girl called for her father. Her hand took his and squeezed it slightly.

“Papa, I don’t feel well.”

Dick stroke her head gently, putting several strands of hair away from her face.

“I know sweetie. I’ll take care of you.”

And he did. He spent the day making sure that she was warm enough, but not too much. He made sure that she would eat and drink water when she was awake long enough to do so. He would put a wet washcloth on her forehead to help her fever and would change it every hour.

And every time Marinette called for her father, his heart broke.

But one day, he thought, she will see her family again.

He would make sure of it.

* * *

Marinette woke up around nine at night, feeling better than she did in the morning.

She remembered that Damian had come to pick her up for school and wanted to stay with her when he saw that she was sick, but she convinced him — or forced him, really — to go to school as she didn’t want him to miss school because of her.

The truth is, she wanted to be alone. She didn’t want him to see her so vulnerable.

Which was stupid, really, but Marinette behaved like a child when she was sick and didn’t want her boyfriend to see that embarrassing side of her.

After throwing him out, she must have fallen asleep and spend the day sleeping because she didn’t remember anything else.

She jumped when she heard a noise from somewhere in her apartment.

Someone was here!

She tried to force herself to relax. It was probably Damian or Dick since they had a key.

Still, she carefully made her way to the kitchen — as the noise came from there — prepared to attack if the intruder wasn’t either of the boys.

She relaxed when she saw both of them, cleaning the dishes after their dinner.

“Hey,” Damian greeted her. “How are you feeling?”

She smiled at him. “Better. How long have you guys been there?”

“Damian’s been there for an hour or so. I’ve been here since morning.”

Marinette’s eyes widened. “Really? How come I didn’t even hear you?”

Dick’s smile was a bit sad, she thought.

“You woke up a few times but you were pretty much out of it. I’m not surprised you don’t remember. But I’m glad you’re feeling better. You should be fine in a few days,” he said as he ruffled her hair in an affectionate gesture.

She smiled at him.

“Thank you for taking care of me.”

“Of course!”

* * *

As soon as he heard the whistle, he dived into the pool, relishing in the feeling of the water around his body.

There was no better place to be, in his opinion.

But now wasn’t the time to appreciate the water.

He had a race to win.

Two hundred meters later, he could hear the happy screams from his friend as his head got out of the water.

He had won!

Kim turned to see all his friends as they screamed their congratulations.

His smile stayed on his face as he was handed his gold medal, but it didn’t stay long after that.

As he glanced at his friends again, he couldn’t help but notice that it missed a handmade banner held by his childhood friend.

Suddenly, the victory wasn’t as sweet as it had been five minutes ago.

Half an hour later, he met all his friends outside the swimming pool. They all congratulated him with taps on his back and laughed as they retell his race as if he wasn’t the one living it.

He smiled, though, as he watched Nino and Alya.

Alya was slowly, but surely, getting better. She was smiling more and talked of Marinette without tearing up anymore.

He was glad to see that her therapy helped.

“Hey, Kim, are you with us,” asked Alix, frowning at him.

“Sorry, sorry. What is it?” He grinned at the short girl.

Alix rolled her eyes.

“We were thinking of going to eat crepes. Are you coming?”

To be honest, he wasn’t in the mood for a crowd.

“Sorry, I promised my mom I would celebrate my victory with her! Another time, though!” He lied.

Everyone understood and they parted ways in front of the _crêperie_. Kim waved at them as they entered and didn’t waste time going home.

He sighed when he finally entered the empty apartment. His mom was working so he would be alone for a while.

Tossing the medal on his bed, Kim sat at his desk, turning his computer on.

He went directly on Alya’s blog, entering his username and his password, and started a new article.

_Yo, Marinette!_

_Guess who won the gold medal in the regional race? That’s right! It’s me!_

_Are you proud of me?_

_Everyone was there and was happy for me, but Alix lost the bet. Of course, you know us, we bet on this race. She said that I would end up second, but I finished first!_

_So, now, she has to be my slave for a week!_

_Sweet, sweet victory._

_It was the first big race of the year, and there are still many to come, but man, I’m happy with this win._

_After all, it hasn’t been an easy year._

_Your absence has been noticed today, DC._

_I’m going to get all mushy right now, so prepare yourself!_

_I miss you._

_You’ve been my best friend for seventeen years (you too, Nino! I know you’re reading this and feeling left out, so don’t be, bro!) and I’ve never imagined that we would get separated._

_When I imagine the future, you’re in it. You and Nino. And now Max and Alix and everyone in the class! I always imagine you when we get married and have kids. I always imagine you being the godmother of my children!_

_And you’re not here anymore. You’re not here, and we don’t know where you are, if you’re fine, if you’re alive even, and I’m lost._

_I’m lost without you._

_You were a constant in my life for so long, and suddenly, you’re not here anymore._

_What am I supposed to do without my best friend? Without my voice of reason?_

_And I know it’s been months. Eight months, to be exact._

_And yet, I still can’t get over the fact that you’re not here._

_Everyone seems to get better, so why can’t I?_

_It’s like I’m stuck in may, back when you just disappeared, and I haven’t moved on since then._

_What am I supposed to do?_

_I need you to tell me what to do, DC, because I have no idea what I’m doing._

_Please, Marinette, come back._

_You have to come back._

_Kim._


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! 
> 
> Thank you everyone for your comments! The letter at the end is better, but let me apologize for the scene before the letter hahaha... 
> 
> Anyway, I'll see you at the end note as I have some things to say!

It’s funny, Marinette thought, how time could either pass quickly or very slowly.

Ever since she had to move to Gotham, time has passed very quickly. It was like she was in Paris one day, and after blinking once, she was in Gotham, almost a year later.

May has come so quickly. It’s been a year now since she had to run away from Paris and she was fine.

She really was. Ever since Kim’s letter that made her cry in Damian’s arms, the letters from her friends and family had gotten better. Happier. Lighter.

Yet, they never forgot about her. The number of letters every week didn’t decrease and it made her feel warm, knowing that she still had a place in their hearts after all that time without contact.

Knowing her circle back in Paris was doing okay made her feel alright.

She was training regularly with Damian’s family, too. She still didn’t want to join them in patrol, choosing to enjoy her last year as a high school student, but she would think about it at the end of the year.

Dick was usually the one training her, as her fighting style was similar to his when she was Ladybug. Those times training with him was one of the highlights of her week.

The other highlights of her week were her new friends and Damian. Claude, Allegra, and Allan had become really good friends to her, and she was surprised to discover a new, funny, side to Félix that she hadn’t expected. He had seemed so uptight when they met, even more than Damian had been when they had first met, but it seemed that he had relaxed more around her after a few months.

As their relationship escalated, she and Damian were closer than ever before, and she could say that she was happy.

There was still some lingering sadness every time she thought about her home, but it was to be expected. Still, she didn’t feel like she was about to break down in tears every time she thought about it anymore, and it was huge progress.

She was happy.

And that’s all that mattered, didn’t it?

Now, though, she had some serious thinking to do.

For some time now, they had to think about their university choices, and Marinette didn’t have any idea about what she wanted to do anymore.

Before, when she still lived in Paris, her career was an obvious choice: she would be a fashion designer and would, one day, have her own line of clothing.

But she hadn’t designed clothes for a year now, and the thought of becoming a fashion designer didn’t bring her as much joy as it used to do.

So what was she supposed to do, now? Her future has always been so clear to her, and now it was a haze. And it scared her, not knowing what she wanted to do.

“What’s on your mind,” asked Damian’s soft voice.

She turned her head to her left, where Damian was sitting next to her. His question drew the attention of her friends, who now looked at her with a concerned expression.

They were in the library, seeking the silence it offered to fill the forms about universities.

Damian has warmed up a little to her friends and tolerated more than he did a few months back. She was relieved, as she had felt guilty that he was forced to interact with them when he didn’t want to.

“I have no idea what I want to do,” she admitted, “how am I supposed to choose a college to go to if I don’t know what I want to do?”

Her boyfriend’s hand found hers on the table and squeezed it slightly in reassurance.

However, it was Claude who spoke up.

“It’s okay, you know. You still have time to figure it out. And we’ll help you! I know you don’t want to be a fashion designer anymore, but you have other interests, so we’ll make a list of those and see what career you can choose according to them, okay?” He said, smiling at her.

Marinette nodded at him, a warm smile spreading on her lips. She was grateful to have such nice friends.

“Okay.”

* * *

Two weeks later, she gave her forms back, claiming that she would go into graphic designs. It was Allan who pointed out that since she had some experience with it — she had told him that she had done a poster and an album jacket once, without going into details — and she could make it her career if she wanted.

She had felt dumb that she didn’t think about it earlier, to be honest. She had really enjoyed working on those projects for Jagged Stone, but since it’s been a long time, graphic design wasn’t even on her radar.

But now, it was her chosen career.

A career that she would be happy to have.

* * *

Damian, Tim, and Barbara Gordon were in the Bat Cave, actively typing on different computers.

They weren’t talking, so focused on their task that it didn’t even occur to them to speak up.

It was something they have been working on for months. They never gave up, even as it felt like they didn’t make any progress.

But they knew it wouldn’t be easy. They knew that their goal could take years before they could achieve it.

Yet, it didn’t deter any of them.

The silence lasted for an hour until it was broken by the redhead.

“I did it! I did it!” She exclaimed, “I really did it,” she added in awe.

Tim and Damian were by her side in seconds, leaning in to look at the screen.

A feral grin appeared on Damian’s face.

Finally.

Finally, they managed to break into the Soulmate Searcher Company’s system.

“Now,” Tim began, “all we have to do is dig up as much dirt as we can.”

“It will be well hidden,” the youngest Wayne said. “It will still take us years to bring them down.”

“Better years than never. It will take us a few months, at least, to dig something up and it will take as much, if not more, for the authorities to investigate and act,” Tim sighed. “Still, it’s still better than doing nothing. Marinette will be reunited with her family eventually.”

Damian nodded.

“We’ll see to it.”

* * *

A few days before graduation, Marinette heard a knock on her bedroom window, late at night.

She grinned as she turned around and saw Robin at her window, waiting for her to let him in.

She didn’t waste time in closing her laptop and opening the window for him.

“Well, look who we have here,” she said in a teasing tone, “you know, you actually look very nice in your uniform.”

Damian grinned at her, wrapping an arm around her waist and bringing her closer to him.

“Do I, now?”

“Hmmm,” she hummed. “Really nice,” she said as she stood on her tiptoes and pecked his lips. “Are you done for the night?”

He nodded before wrapping both arms around her, hugging her close to him.

Marinette sighed in contentment.

“Are you staying the night,” she asked, hopeful.

“If you’ll have me.”

She chuckled. “Of course I’ll have you. I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t want you to stay the night.”

She took his hand and made him sit on her bed. She leaned in, smiling softly when he met her halfway, and kissed him deeply. She sighed into the kiss when he brought her to his lap.

She broke the kiss and leaned away to look at him. Her hand cupped his cheek, her thumb stroking the edge of his mask.

“You know, I really like this mask. You should wear it more often if you know what I mean,” she wiggled her eyebrows with a smirk on her lips. “Could add some spice.”

She laughed when Damian choked and hid his face on her shoulder.

She still could see that his ears were red though.

She really loved making him blush.

“Please, don’t say things like that.”

She laughed even more at his comment and dropped a kiss on his head.

“Come on, you know I love you. I’m just teasing.”

He grumbled something she didn’t understand in her shoulder before he said, more clearly.

“Love you too.”

She beamed at him and kissed him again when he finally stopped hiding his face.

* * *

Graduation in America was such a grand thing. In France, you just had to pass the _baccalauréat_ and then come back to the school after you got the results to sign a paper.

It was so anticlimactic.

But in the US, the valedictorian had to speak up in front of all the professors, the graduates, and their families. She really didn’t envy Damian. He had grumbled a lot about the speech he clearly didn’t want to write.

Damian’s whole family was there, and Jason and Richard were screaming so loud when she and Damian got their diploma that she almost felt embarrassed.

Almost.

She was too happy to really feel embarrassed.

After that, they had gone out with Félix, Claude, Allegra, and Allan to celebrate their graduation in a calmer way than their classmates.

They weren’t big fans of big parties.

They played video games and board games and talked about their futures and how they would still be friends since they were all staying in Gotham for college.

And Marinette was happy.

They all fell asleep in the same room.

Even Damian, which surprised Marinette, as he wasn’t one to let his guard down.

She knew it meant that he trusted them to some extent.

Yeah, Marinette was happy.

* * *

It was during the summer that Marinette got a taste of what Damian had to endure when she died during the Grim Reaper attack.

Not that Damian died, but he got seriously injured on patrol.

She was in her room, watching youtube videos when she felt that something was wrong. She didn’t know what, but the feeling of dread had settled in her stomach and she couldn’t shake it off.

She tried to not think about it, but not even ten minutes later, she felt a pain in her left side, making her gasp.

“Wha-”

She didn’t even finish her word before realizing that the pain she was feeling was from Damian.

She closed her eyes, reaching for her bond and when she opened her eyes, she was in a dark alley.

Damian, in his Robin uniform, was laying on the floor, his head on Nightwing’s lap as the older vigilante was trying to stop the blood from the wound.

“Oh my god,” she exclaimed as she fell next to him.

Damian’s eyes found hers, and he tried to smile at her but could only wince at the pain.

“I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me.”

Nightwing frowned when he saw that Damian wasn’t looking at him, but he quickly understood that Marinette was here.

“We’ll take care of him. He had worse,” he said, but she could hear that he was extremely worried.

“You have to go to the hospital.”

Robin shook his head. “No hospital. We’re going to the cave. Alfred knows how to treat wounds from gunshots. I’ll be fine.”

And yet, a few seconds later, their connection was broken as he lost consciousness.

When she was back in her bedroom, the dark-haired girl didn’t waste any time. She dressed in two minutes and was out of her apartment another two minutes later, running as fast as she could to Wayne Manor.

Fifteen minutes later, she was in the bat cave, watching as Alfred took care of Damian’s injury.

Dick was hugging her, trying to comfort her.

She didn’t know how much time passed before Alfred was done and finally acknowledged them.

“Master Damian will be fine. The bullet didn’t do a lot of damage, fortunately. He will need a lot of rest.”

She could hear Bruce’s relieved sigh, echoing her own.

They all stayed by Damian’s side for a while before his family decided to go to bed. Damian would stay in the cave where he would be monitored.

“Are you coming,” Dick asked as Marinette stayed where she was.

The blue-eyed girl shook her head.

“I’ll stay here tonight.”

Richard smiled and kissed her head affectionally. “Okay. Do get some rest.”

When he left the cave, Marinette climbed into Damian’s bed, gathering him slowly in her arms.

She put her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. 

She fell asleep to the sound that proved to her he was alive.

* * *

_Hello Marinette,_

_I can’t believe lycée is over! We just got our baccalauréat results and everyone in the class passed! Isn’t it great? I hope that if you still go to school that you passed whatever exam you have to pass to get into college._

_The time I was homeschooled seems so far away. It feels like so many years have passed since I first met you and the others, and yet, it feels like it’s only been yesterday._

_Weird how time passes, huh?_

_I decided to study science! So in September, I’m going to enroll in a science program in Paris. People say it’s one of the best!_

_I’ll be staying in Paris, and everyone is staying too. It seems like they want to be here when you come back to us._

_I can’t blame them._

_I miss you Marinette, but I have no doubt that I will see you soon!_

_Oh, Mister Chang has a message for you. He says that your old friend will be here when you come back. She’s been missing you. Mister Chang misses you too. He always speaks so fondly of you when we’re having tea._

_There are a lot of things I want to talk to you about, but it’s about you-know-what, so I can’t say anything here. But one day, we’ll talk face to face, so we’ll talk then!_

_See ya later, Marinette!_

_Adrien._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, after this chapter, I feel like I don't have much more to say in this story.
> 
> The next chapter might be the last one.
> 
> So, if there is something you absolutely want to see, if there are questions you want answered, tell me about it, and I'll see if I can write this. I'll tell you if it is possible or not :)


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter, guys. I'm sorry it's so short. 
> 
> I must have written this chapter at least three times. There are scenes that didn't make any sense to me in the end, so I ended up deleting them, thus, why it's much shorter than what I had planned. I wanted to write en epilogue, but everything fits in the last chapter, so... 
> 
> I hope you'll still like it even if it's so short!

A full year passed when Marinette got the biggest surprise.

Everything has been going well. She and Damian were going strong, she was growing closer and closer to his family, her friends were still in the city, so they saw each other often, and she was doing well in her studies.

While graphic design wasn’t what she thought she would be doing when she was younger, she was happy with her choice of career. She still got to be creative, even if it wasn’t in fashion like she had once wanted.

Maybe, one day, she would be able to design clothes again, but the thought of not doing it didn’t make her feel guilty anymore.

Damian, in the meantime, was studying business while working for his father’s company. He was busy — as was she — but he always managed to make time for her.

It’s been easier for them to make time for each other too since they moved in together. They had found a bigger apartment than her own in one of the nice parts of Gotham and moved in together three months into the new school year.

That’s why, so used to her new routine, she didn’t expect what she saw in the news.

The Soulmate Searcher Company, along with several members of the French Government were under investigation.

Marinette swore she was about to cry at the news.

Yes, it could take years for the investigation to conclude, as it usually does for big companies and important people, but at least, they were doing something.

Marinette dared hope at the news.

“Damian!” She called her boyfriend, her voice quivering with emotion. “Damian, please, come quick!”

The green-eyed boy — no, man — appeared next to her, concern written all over his face.

“What’s wrong,” he asked.

“Look!” she exclaimed, pointing at the TV.

They were silent as they both listened to the reporter. In the end, Damian smirked and brought her closer to him, giving her a one-armed hug.

“About time they did something. We sent the French authorities evidence almost a year ago.”

The blue-eyed woman nearly choked at his words. Shaking him off, she leaned away from him so she could look at him in the eyes.

“You mean that you did this?”

He scoffed. “Of course. There was no way we would let anyone threaten your safety and separate you from your family.”

Tears gathered in her eyes as she took a deep breath. Slowly, she took his face in her hands, gently stroking his cheek.

“Thank you. Thank you so much.”

She kissed him, then. Deeply and desperately, all the while wondering what she did in her life for the fates to give her a soulmate like Damian.

She loved him so much, she swore she could explode because of her feelings.

* * *

It took another two years, a few months after she graduated and during her first week at her job, for the SSC to be sentenced.

The employees all got between ten and twenty years of prison and the people from the government got away with only five years.

Damian mumbled about how they should have got a life sentence, but unfortunately, such a thing didn’t really exist in France.

But it was not all. The investigators also found the list of all the people who gained money from denouncing soulmates to the company. They were being judged and sentenced to a few years in prison for complicity.

The list of those people was released by the reporters for the whole world to see.

Lila Rossi was among those names.

Lila was going to prison.

They had celebrated with Damian’s family way into the early hours of the morning.

She had been so tired but wasn’t willing to go to bed yet. She was afraid that if she went to sleep, it would all be a dream.

“I can’t believe I can go home.”

Damian’s hold on her — they were cuddling on the couch in the manor’s living room — tightened as he buried his head in the crook of her neck.

“We can start packing tomorrow and get to Paris by the end of the week.”

“Really?”

“Of course. I’ll tell the pilot to get the plane ready for Saturday.”

She squeezed him tight against her, burying her head in his chest. She felt him move as if he was trying to get something from one of his pockets, but she only closed her eyes, relaxing to the sound of his heartbeat.

She groaned when he poked her cheek, but she still didn’t open her eyes.

“What?”

He chuckled at her behavior.

“Open your eyes,” he said softly.

“But I don’t want to,” she whined.

“Trust me, you want to.”

She opened her eyes at that and immediately gasped as she was met with the most gorgeous ring she has ever seen.

“Marry me?” He whispered as she looked at him.

“Yes, yes, yes!”

She couldn’t control the big smile on her face as he slid the ring on her left hand. She still couldn’t control it when he kissed her, but then again, he couldn’t stop smiling either.

* * *

Marinette stood nervously in the street with Damian at her side, his hand in hers as he tried to bring her comfort.

She could see her parents inside the bakery, smiling at the customers.

She had been waiting years to see them again, and now that she finally could, she found herself frozen in place, unable to take a step in the bakery’s direction.

Years have passed. What if they didn’t recognize her? People changed, they would have to get to know each other all over again. What if they didn’t love the woman she had become? What if they didn’t like Damian? They were getting married and they were soulmates, she didn’t know what she would do if they didn’t like him.

“It’s going to be alright.”

Marinette’s head snapped in his direction and she forgot immediately about her panic as she saw his smile.

“I can hear your thoughts. It’s going to be okay. Your parents love you, and they have missed you. They wouldn’t have written to you if they didn’t.”

The dark-haired girl exhaled.

“You’re right. Of course, you are.”

“Of course I am,” he scoffed and lightly pushed her. “Now, get inside.”

She stopped thinking as she got closer to the bakery. As she opened the door and the bell chimed, the sound around her faded, and all she could hear was her heartbeat.

She knew that Damian was right behind her, but she couldn’t sense him at the moment.

All she could see was her parents.

Tears gathered in her eyes as they noticed her. Her father dropped the baguette he was holding, and her mother’s gasp was so loud that it caught the attention of all the customers.

Still, as the tears flowed down her cheeks, Marinette’s smile was so big that her cheeks hurt.

“Maman, Papa!”

* * *

After her return, her parents closed the bakery. For two days, they stayed inside talking and hugging and crying. They had so much to tell after all.

Her parents cried when they found out that she and Damian were engaged. Luckily, they liked him, especially since he was the one helping her in her escape and taking care of her when she was away. Her parents were really grateful for the Wayne family.

Two days after her return, around dinner time, the doorbell of the Dupain-Cheng household rang.

Her mother was the one to open the door — a big smile on her face as if she already knew who it was — with Marinette right behind her.

As the door opened, all her friends were revealed.

“Marinette!” Her name was shouted by several people.

She was tackled in a hug by Alya, Nino, and Kim. Their strength was too much, however, they ended up on the floor.

But it didn’t matter.

Because they were finally reunited.

Alya and Kim were crying, and they were talking but she couldn’t understand a word they were saying. Nino was hugging her so tightly that it hurt, but it didn’t matter.

She was home.

* * *

Marinette smiled as she opened the door and entered the building.

She had been in Paris for three weeks now, and it has been emotionally draining.

Upon her return, her grandmother Gina came to visit them. Jagged, and Penny, and Nadja, and literally everyone she had ever known in Paris came to see her.

It made her happy to see that so many people cared about her. 

But there was someone she wanted to see.

The bell chimed as she entered, and the old man greeted her without looking up.

“Hello, Master Fu,” she said softly.

The old man dropped his cup as he looked at her.

“Marinette… it’s really you?”

She nodded, smiling. A second later, a red kwami appeared in front of her, the god’s big blue eyes filled with tears.

Marinette smiled brightly at her friend.

“Hello, Tikki.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so you know [this is Marinette's engagement ring.](https://www.camelliarts.com/product/14k-rose-gold-morganite-engagement-ring-unique-morganite-engagement-ring-rose-gold-floral-engagement-ring/)
> 
> Thank you all so much for reading this story, for your comments, for all your support.
> 
> Senses is now officially over. I hope you all enjoyed the ending, and I'm sorry if there are things you wanted to see that aren't in there, but that's how I saw the ending. 
> 
> Once again, thank you all so much!


End file.
